She put on her best “Duh-you’re-an-idiot-stop-bugging-me” voice and said “No, she can still do things with her OTHER HAND. Get out of the way, I can’t see.”

I bet money those parents made that “scary” shit up from whole cloth.

FTR, I agree with most of the rest of your points, and I do think it’s a really interesting perspective to look at this particular situation from, in terms of the fact that this is all about perception and looks, and really has absolutely nothing to do with what this particular person can or can’t do or how she self-identifies (b/c maybe she does identify as “disabled”, I don’t know).

Maybe if we used a word that didn’t mean “lacking in ability” it would help with that stereotype.
I can see this as problematic, I personally take my cues from activists/writers/bloggers/etc. who are themselves disabled, and seem to prefer that term at current. The thing is, though, that even if someone is “lacking in ability” in whatever form, that still doesn’t give some stranger the right to assume that person needs help.

But really, this is why I like the social model of disability, which puts the blame for the lack of being able to do something squarely on the physical and social environment that is not accommodating enough of people whose bodies or brains work in a variety of ways. (MissPrism, upthread, linked to a post on this for anyone who’s reading this and has no clue what I’m talking about.)

Maybe if we used a word that didn’t mean “lacking in ability” it would help with that stereotype.

I also think that telling people they cannot do the things people who might be built differently can do is limiting. It’s sort of the same thing as telling a fat person that they cannot surf because they are fat. Maybe they can, but they won’t try because of what they were told.

I agree that if someone actually does not have the ability to surf (or anything else), they should not be thought any less of or discriminated against. But I don’t think it applies in this particular situation, and I think it’s damaging.

I agree with you that British people use “properly” much more casually than Americans. I also think the British news headlines are even more sensational and insensitive than the American headlines.

If you are interested in some further observations about the cultural differences between the USA and UK – we blog about this all the time. We have even dabbled a bit in feminism and political correctness. Like you, we are three gals blogging together.

http://shesnotfromyorkshire.com/

Lee, I don’t think that negates the point that monkey was making. After all, the “disabled”=”needs help” association is still a negative one that goes beyond “we reject this label”, and enforces certain stereotypes.