Shirts That Go Hard

Yeah that haunting poetry kicks ass.

In the latest Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM-5-TR), intellectual disability is the term that replaces mental retardation meaning mentally slow or delayed. Before mental retardation, it was mental deficiency implying there was something inferior. To me, there's no real difference between mental deficiency and intellectual disability. They are synonymous. Before the first DSM, a prominent doctor in the field of intelligence created a tiered system of intelligence that applied the labels moron, imbecile, and idiot (ordered higher to lower intelligence). Those words became derogatory too. The issue is not that scientists can't guess the correct term that wont become an insult.

The issue is that society defines values for people which allows terms to be insults. As long as oppression exists, the vulnerable will fall victim to it. The disabled, by definition, will always be part of the vulnerable group. Additionally, oppression is always justified by arguments on who deserves what, whether it be religion, race, sex, social class, work ethic, or intelligence. As long as we hold the value that inequitable distribution is not only acceptable but the ultimate goal of a just society, then regardless of the rules we establish, however noble or virtuous, the disabled will always be part of the oppressed, and thus, the terms for lower intelligence will continually evolve from neutral to derogatory.

The deaf seem to own it. They made up their own language and ableism can't do shit.

But that is the only exception I can think of. (And they are really independent).

Are their other groups that you think experience this? As other poster said, deaf is deaf. Blind is blind. Paraplegic and that family all seem fine. And autism/neurodivergent is having it's heyday as everyone realizes the symptoms are pretty broad and most people express some of those symptoms and most people want to feel unique.

So...what's special about this group?

As the word "retarded" transitioned to "the r word" in the 2010s, this was pointed out over and over, that this process has happened over and over. We seem to have an innate yearning to find ways to call people stupid.

The Euphemism Treadmill might stop when the term is so clinically dry as "mentally disabled". It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue of a schoolyard bully the way "retarded" does. I dunno, we'll see.

Culture evolves. I will say, some of the new terms drive me nuts because they technically mean the same thing, but are grammatically awkward or are otherwise clunky when conveying the same message.

Like sure, I technically have a disability, please don't try to frame it as a good thing or something to make it sound better. It just sounds condescending. I don't need pity, I'm living my life to the fullest now :P

Doug Stanhope has a bit about that
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dqsgxLyl5E

All things are possible with the help of a local maker space

Insisting that people speak a certain way is like insisting that women wear dresses. It's so fundamentalist

No cap, fr fr!

Spoken like a true neurodivergent.

I only really mind when it's done by normies like myself about a minority group that we aren't a part of. Like taking offense on behalf of someone else.

If a group wants to mix up their own terms just because, I'm 100 percent behind them.

Why is retarded considered so offensive that people self censor but idiot isn't? Is it just that retarded reached its peak in the internet era of policing speech or is there something special about the word that makes it much more offensive than idiot or imbecile?

They both have the same meanings, intentions, and ability to be used as an insult.

Here's my random two cents about disability euphemisms.

I personally think "special", which was pretty popular like 10 years ago, was/is pretty demeaning. Even the more recent "differently-abled" feels weird.

I think the plain language of "disability", which seems to have been around quite a while now, is fine. It's what is says on the tin, without judgement.

Why does everyone assume it's "eternal" or "never ending"? Each time the euphemisms change, it's due to more inclusivity, more empathy, and more attempts to understand the plight of others. It's reasonable to assume that it'll stop at a point when we reach the right terms. It probably has already, and I just can't think of any examples off the top of my head...