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18 replies

needmorecoffee · 24/11/2008 08:09

here

OP posts:
Buckets · 24/11/2008 08:20

Yay that's nice.

TotalChaos · 24/11/2008 08:25

daily mail article by mother of a child with DS

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1088344/It-happened-I-decided-Downs-baby.html

"It happened to me: I decided to keep my Downs baby"

needmorecoffee · 24/11/2008 08:31

I read that but kept cringing at 'down's baby' and her use of the word 'normal'
Some non-disabled parents could do with some education!

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Buckets · 24/11/2008 08:51

OK naive question here, what's wrong with saying Downs baby?

needmorecoffee · 24/11/2008 09:13

because the baby is a human being with Down's syndrome. Person with a syndrome/disorder or impairment. The impairment doesn't define the person.

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auntyspan · 24/11/2008 09:46

I've just had this discussion in the office. I pointed out that children aren't described as "cerebal palsy babies".... typical of the ignorance that surrounds the whole issue imo.

Glad to hear the numbers are on the up though

bullet123 · 24/11/2008 10:43

That's a positive article.

magso · 24/11/2008 11:03

This might seem odd but I didn't know the term (which was in common use when I was a child) offended people until I joined MN. I understand the arguements but children with DS are so gorgeous I had never seen the negative phrasiology. Thankyou NMC!

janinlondon · 24/11/2008 11:11

The numbers are going up because women have their babies at an older age. The percentage is not going up.

Buckets · 24/11/2008 13:49

Sorry I still don't get it, surely it's just colloquial shorthand rather than an attempt to define the person - do you really never use the term yourself? Obviously it would be negative in the context of a tirade with abusive definitions but in an information article? Is the term 'Aspies' offensive too then because that gets used a lot on this board?
I don't want to offend anyone that's why I'm trying to get my head around it.

needmorecoffee · 24/11/2008 14:12

the term 'aspie' is not really right either but some poeple do use it as a shorthand amongst other SN people. But you don't define people by what they have. Your child doesn't become a chickenpox for a week or a cancer or a cerebral palsy.
Its probably best to use the correct term whatever you think of it and take your cues form disabled people themselves.

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amber32002 · 24/11/2008 14:50

Re the right thing to call people: It's a nightmare. I refer to myself as Aspie, and don't mind if others do. But others find the term offensive, so I won't call others aspies unless I know them well and know they don't mind. Er, does that make sense . In a very real sense, I am this disability/difference, because it affects my whole way of sensing, seeing, hearing and being in the world and interacting with it. Perhaps more so than other disabilities where there is much to the people that is nothing to do with the disability.

'Person with an ASD' is good if people want to be politically correct.

Then there's all the "is it 'disabled person' or 'person with a disability' " stuff. I prefer the second one, but there's big debate over it.

Frankly, (and this is only my view) unless it's a really rude term like 'retard', I'm fine with whatever people try, because what matters to me is that we're respected and valued and included, rather than which word came first in the sentence.

Buckets · 24/11/2008 14:51

Of course I'll try not to use it and I certainly wouldn't use it just anyhow anyway. It just seems odd to avoid it when you're talking about the condition - that article was about the condition, it wasn't making unkind generalisations or definitions about the people who have the condition.

From your chicken pox analogy I'm wondering if you mean just using Downs as a term, which I can certainly see the problem with. Isn't 'Downs person' or 'Aspergers person' different, esp when used in the context of the condition? It's not like saying "here's X, he's Downs."

feelingbitbetter · 24/11/2008 15:18

I agree it is difficult to get it right and, like Amber, I personally don't get offended by certain terms (except the obvious downright offensive). Quite the opposite sometimes. I got very (quietly) annoyed once with a young neuro struggling to correct herself to say 'brain injured' and 'brain injury' whilst discussing my DSs brain damage, which is the term she wanted to use, but political correctness wouldn't allow her to.
The nicest tale I heard was from a friends little boy telling Mum about the new boy in class who was 'a splurger'. It made me smile.
Can't imagine I'd have felt any different if it was my sin he was talking about.

feelingbitbetter · 24/11/2008 15:19

My son

amber32002 · 24/11/2008 15:27

Feelingbitbetter, well, they could have been discussing your sin . The mumsnet prayer chain might be just the place for confession .

Me, I shall go out and splurge at once

HelensMelons · 24/11/2008 15:35

Feelingbetter - 'a slurger', awww that made me laugh! God, kids are great!

HelensMelons · 24/11/2008 15:36

sorry xposted.

I agree with Amber, the more splurging the better!

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