“Disabled?” my cousin exclaimed as I explained to her the word I use to describe myself and my brothers. I have many physically disabling conditions, and both my brothers are on the autism spectrum.
I’ve been using the term “disabled” most of my life. For the first half, I was only explaining my brothers, but now I can include myself in that category too.
My cousin, who has an adopted brother with Down syndrome, was expecting me to say that I described myself and my brothers as “special” or “unique.” She was looking for my euphemism for the term “disabled.” I think it was something about the prefix of “dis-“ that made her view it as a negative word.
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