Fighting Chance blog 11

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.