Social media continues to be an amazing place for thought provoking material. In the past I have blogged about #WhyWeDontEngage. This hashtag challenged me to think about how as mental health professionals we are of too quick to label people as “not engaging in treatment”. How we as professionals define “engagement in treatment” is vastly different from how those who are receiving treatment.
I ran into a similar hashtag this weekend, it started for me with this tweet..
"Yes, but you're not DISABLED disabled." #ancientabledproverbs
— Heather Ure (@riotheatherrr) July 8, 2017
I was immediately impacted by how the language used diminished the meaning of a person with a disability. Ableism is defined as “ Discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities. Furthermore, Ableism characterizes persons as defined by their disabilities and as inferior to the non-disabled.” The language we use in society can make individuals with disabilities feel “less than”. It is not only the assumptions and stigma that hurt, it is also the assumption that they should somehow be “more able”.
I found lots of these tweets incredibly thought provoking…
Found out what I learned via my @Medium Post
