DisabilityCare
Hi Readers,
I’m writing
this article in response to a Sydney Morning Herald article DisabilityCare’s name “close to being
hated”.
In my
response, I will explain my view of the words “disability” and “care” and
suggest they are not in fact patronising
or offensive when placed together, but I can understand the reasons for how
and/or why it can controversially turn heads and divide opinions.
The purpose
of the NDIS implemented with the name DisabilityCare was brought
together as a unique and interesting concept which aims to help increase the
independence of people with disabilities and through advertising educate the
general public about the needs and capabilities of individuals living with a
disability.
It is
important to note that in some ethnicities having a disability is sometimes
seen as a “stigma” so I can understand the freeing sense in saying you have a
“disability” in a liberal and accepting country like Australia, but where do
you draw line in terms of its perceptions and/or connotations? Are people being
too sensitive?
In my Fighting Chance blog The prejudice of words, I explained the
meaning of the word disability being a
handicap that leaves one unable to do something and then suggested the
use for the abbreviative term PLC (Permanent Lifetime Challenge) which I find
more empowering, and perhaps a new abbreviative term I’ve now come up with
called NNPLC (New Normal Permanent Lifetime Challenge) – for people who inherit
challenges (e.g.: Sophie Delizio).
My next
suggestion might be hotly contested but personally I’d much prefer the name be
Special Needs Care purely because I’d like to see the NDIS provide/fund
communication and mobility equipment to those who need it and also for there to
be centres run by psychologists, social workers, youth and crisis workers and
counsellors to help support disabled individuals and their families. These are
the issues that matter! The name is simply an insignificant detail for the
majority of those who will benefit the greatest from this new scheme.
I’d
encourage you to realise that the word and/or term “care” isn’t as patronising
after all because of the fact that there needs to be a realistic perspective
kept and/or reserved for those who inherit and/or acquire physical or
intellectual challenges. Examples:
- If you
required chemotherapy for cancer treatment, then you would need care.
- If you get
your limbs amputated from diabetes, then your needs become special which
will then entail you to need care.
I guess the
bottom line conclusively is that what we have proven is that words have
significant power to denote certain feelings it’s all in how they’re used,
perceived and/or how well they resonate with people that divide opinion, we
must however not lose sight of the bigger picture: DisabilityCare will change thousands of lives for the better…
regardless of the name.
