{"id":5087,"date":"2020-06-02T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2020-06-02T12:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/?p=5087"},"modified":"2020-06-08T12:37:27","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T16:37:27","slug":"disable-is-a-mislabel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/2020\/06\/02\/disable-is-a-mislabel\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Dis\u2019able is a \u2018Mis\u2019label"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ellen S. Gibson<\/em><\/p>\n

AgrAbility is a combination of two words: agriculture and ability. At Maine AgrAbility, we primarily work with farmers. We work with men and women who raise animals and vegetables to sell at the Farmers Market along with bread and butter, honey and eggs. They raise potatoes, pigs, sheep and cattle, make cheese, lavender sachets and salsa, roving, yarn and sweaters. The particular group of people we work with experience many challenges to their farming livelihood\u2014traumatic brain injury, amputation, arthritis, fused discs, and loss of hearing\u2014that give them another label: disability.<\/p>\n

Not able?<\/b><\/p>\n

The very structure of the word \u2018disability\u2019 gives it a negative connotation. Take the word apart to get \u2018dis\u2019 and \u2018ability.\u2019 \u2018Dis\u2019 is a prefix that negates the base word it is attached to: disability, disarm, disconnect, dishearten, dishonest, dislike, disobey. <\/i>https:\/\/www.thefreedictionary.com\/dis<\/a><\/p>\n

AgrAbility staff find the word limiting and struggle with its negativity. We have tried other words, such as \u201cother abled\u201d though nothing as yet feels quite right. For some of the agencies we work with, \u201cdisability\u201d is a legal term with specific meanings and funding streams.<\/p>\n

Discrimination<\/b><\/p>\n

One of our clients has a bumper sticker on her wheelchair-accessible van that says, \u201cAttitudes are the real disability.\u201d A person who is unable to relate to someone who is different\u2014whether that is the color of her skin, his native language, her inability to walk, his inability to hear–could be described as having a cognitive disability. Call it rigidity of thought, inability to perceive difference, a block in neural capacity. Call it unconscious bias.<\/p>\n

We make assumptions based on past experiences. We rely on generalizations. Sometimes those generalizations fall into the category of stereotypes, or labels, and may be grossly erroneous and harmful. Labeling diminishes others by pigeonholing them, denying their individual character and abilities.<\/p>\n

Can we see this in ourselves and how we process information? Often, we cannot.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/abilitymagazine.com\/unconscious-bias-pwds-workplace\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Creating a new normal<\/b><\/p>\n