Micheal,
Thanks, I wholely support your view. I believe this clearly demonstrates how
different impairments define themselves. From my experiences of knowing many
people with cp, it is an easy impairment to identify and define internally
and externally. It is visable, stable and 'discredited' (Geoffman's Stigma).
Most importantly, it is a life long impairment and dianoges occurs long
before the child with cp is aware.
This builds a level of comfort and security where impairment is seen as
factual. While there is a perceived lost of social acceptance during
childhood, a person with cp in most likely, without parential pressure, to
adopt a social model perspective naturally. Identity is often strong and any
doubts about impairment occurs only from external pressures to be accepted.
For myself and I guess other people with cp, and I been in situations where
it has been all people with cp, the idea that impairment is socially
constructed, as opposed to disability, is bizarre. Gender and race is
socially constructed but not a person's birth sex or skin colour.
While Deaf people define themselves as a language minority and often
distance themselves from other disabled people, they still accept
impairment.
There is a strong body of people with learning difficulties who accept that
term and fight to be accepted as people within that context.
Decades of impairment pride and culture has been built by people in a
positive manner... and it seems academia wish to destroy this because some
people want to join the party and change the music because impairment is no
longer fashionable.
Social model left impairment alone and impairment was fighting for a voice,
which is being killed off in its childhood!
Long live impairment! Viva spastics!
Many thanks, Simon
--
Simon Stevens
Chief Executive, Enable Enterprises
-----Original Message-----
From: The Disability-Research Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Michael Peckitt
Sent: 01 September 2004 16:47
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Impairment
To all
I have cerebral palsy affecting my left side. I do not find the term
impairmenty offensive in anyway, quite the reverese I find it necessary in
order to articulate my social position. The part that I need it to
articulate is not my economic condition or environment, it explains why I
limp. I do not limp because money was witheld and if people built better
floors my left side would still limp, my back would still hurt, 'disability'
as a concept does not necesssary help me here.
However, I am not wanting the social model as it stands to 'cure' my
impairment nor am I endorsing a medical model. I am wanting to articulate a
story about my experience of impairment, of pain an joy and for that I need
some term to refer to the physical body that I am, and for that I need
impairment. I will not have it denied me.
Michael Gillan Peckitt
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