To correct the teacher's wording? (Disability related homework)

[BerniceBroadside]

So, it's apparently disability awareness week at school. Jolly good. Little sods might learn that when they grow up they'll need to fold their pushchair if a wheelchair user wishes to board a bus.

However, we have homework which reads, 'List items which a disabled person might use to help them'.

WIBU to amend it to read PEOPLE with disabilities, or perhaps even PEOPLE with additional needs?

Probably worth being THAT parent?

I don't know ziva perhaps as I said I was born disabled as a kid I took it all in my stride despite numerous hospital stays a teen and young adult I was militant and protested and marched and attended seminars on disability rights then had my children now im a bit grumpy and tired and sore most of the time.

Mrsjayy, we appear to be at the same life stage. It grinds you down slowly.

Seems so tinkly im just weary now not all the time but I think you understand

i still think with children you just need to make them aware that people with disablities/disabled people
are people just like them

does this mean that Paediatrics becomes Young Care Medicine, Orthopaedics becomes Bone Care Medicine, Cardiology becomes Heart Care Medicine, etc, etc?

No because there is nothing wrong with being young, or having bones, or having a heart. But society does seem to think there is something wrong with being old, so we keep trying to come up with alternative phrases and euphemisms to describe being old.

Quite commonly, Geriatrics is now called Elderly Medicine, and consultant geriatricians are called Elderly Care Physicians. I think this stems from common misuse of the "geriatric" as a mild insult, so yes it seems very much a "politically correct" term. Silly really, as it derives from Greek for "old person healer" i.e. exactly what it is.

Or you could take the view that the trend is to "demystify" medical terms which are largely based on Greek and Latin words which 99% of the population do not now understand.

"Geriatrics" is still acceptable in the US, but increasingly the term "older adult" is being used to describe people served by geriatricians and other providers of services.

As a disabled person(I have a severe sight impairment) I feel the slightly cosmetic alteration of words unnecessary. However, another approach might be to ask what can reasonably be done to help a disabled person without infringing their sense of independence. I've had a lot of help over the years, gratefully received, but sometimes assumptions are made about my abilities that seem as though no-one thinks I tie my own shoelaces.

I went to a mainstream primary school and got a lot of support from my own classmates. On school trips, I was watched over and there were really very few complaints about the amount o f the teacher's time I needed or the fact hat when standing at the board reading assigned maths work I sometimetime obstructed their view. My experience is that kids do learn to be understanding, even helpful when presented with someone who needs it. And if you are really looking for smething to teach them, how about diasbility could happen to you? Whether through illness or accident, or even their own children, we will all have to face the reality of disability in our lives. Eventually in old age we will all endure infirmity of our own.