Posted on 07/05/2013 9:10:36 AM PDT by Deadeye Division
A local self-advocacy group for people with developmental disabilities is asking Columbus and Franklin County to officially retire the word handicap whenever new accessibility signs are erected.
The advocates want the old description replaced with accessible, the wheelchair symbol or, perhaps even better, a zippy new icon recently adopted in New York City that looks like a wheelchair figure on the move.
“With handicap, that sounds like they’re making fun of us,” said Marci Straughter, a member of the Self-Advocate Advisory Council of the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities. “It’s time for a change, and we want to make this happen.”
Language is often at the forefront of the self-advocacy movement, which scored a big victory in 2009 when the words mental retardation were dropped from the names of state and county agencies that serve Ohioans with developmental disabilities.
“Language does hurt,” said Sadie Hunter, executive director of People First of Ohio. “Taking the word handicap away strengthens people. And it just takes a little bit of effort to make these changes.”
Columbus and Franklin County officials say they are willing to make sure that new and replacement signs for parking areas, buildings, bathrooms and other areas do not include the word handicap or handicapped.
Advocates say they hope the public stand will prompt private-sector signs to change, too.
In a letter sent to the city and county about a week ago, the self-advocate council forwarded resolutions passed in Cincinnati and Hamilton County to eliminate handicapped on public signs.
On newer signs and buildings, the changes already have been made, local officials said. But some old signs, such as those posted at the Franklin County Courthouse, 373 S. High St., still use the word handicap.
County Commissioner Marilyn Brown said she’ll push to make the phase-in official.
“We have to be welcoming in our language,” said Brown, whose adult daughter uses a wheelchair. “ It seems like a natural for us to just continue as we change signage, to change it to be far more positive and use the contemporary verbiage.”
Hunter said some Ohioans want to trade the rigid wheelchair symbol for the active icon developed by the Accessibility Icon Project and make it available on license plates.
That icon meets federal standards and has been adopted in cities in New York, Massachusetts, Texas, Canada and western Europe, said Boston-area professor Brian Glenney, project co-founder.
“We haven’t gotten any pushback, and we’ve been going for three years,” Glenney said. “It’s a slow phase-in, like how words are being changed. As the words evolve, symbols should evolve as well.”
rprice@dispatch.com
*The City of Boulder, Colo. spent a couple of hundred thousand dollars replacing the term “Man Hole” with “Utility Access Cover”.*
Now that some insanity right there. I don’t care who ya are.
HA....that/this is why my husband NOW occasionally parks in the one of many EMPTY “Handicap” parking spaces right near the front door of a store....we are “other abled”....whatever the H3LL that means!
How about ‘African-American-Abled’?
A few years back, my College took down all their handicapped parking signs and replaced them with ones that read “Person First Priority Parking.” I kid you not.
After a couple of weeks They used peel and stick letters to add “permit required” on the bottom.
If they dislike it and are so insulted, then let them park out on the fringes, with us.
Boulder is called “The Peoples Republic of Boulder”. The place is dominated by loony lefties.
Asian doesn't even make sense when used this way.
We mean East Asians, the little yellow people.
Not Afghans, Turks, Israelis, Indians or Iranians.
I just said that three days ago in Wal-Mart.
Wife and I were over by the bread section (stand alone kiosk) and this trim 60-ish woman, in one of those electric carts, comes barreling in ahead of us (we had to stand aside to keep from being run over) and says "I have to get in there."
Being Mr. Nice Guy, I deferred. Ten minutes later we were behind Miss Cart Woman(MCW) at the checkout. The woman ahead of her had all her good packaged and ready to leave. MCW was next. About then a clerk in a lane to our left said "I'm opening up. I can take the next one. We went over.
Next thing, the MCW starts complaining about people taking cuts. I snapped. I've had it up to HERE with this PC crap and especially these cart people who are rude and pushy and think they can get away with it. I told her to quit thinking she had special privileges just because she was a cripple (used that term intentionally).
Now she is yelling "DID YOU HEAR THAT? HE CALLED ME A CRIPPLE! HOW RUDE! I WANT TO SPEAK TO THE MANAGER!" She yelled that last a couple of times. I told her she took cuts with us at the bread rack, which she ignored. The clerk at our counter looked embarrassed and motioned one of the supervisors over.
When the supervisor came over, I told her we had a Professional Victim trying to make waves, and that I was sick of their crap. The supervisor rolled her eyes in sympathy and walked back to her station. MCW started yelling I was a liar and she wanted the manager. When nobody did anything she calmed down. I should have told her sarcastically to "have a good day", but I was pist [sic] and afraid I'd really let her have it.
When we were outside, wifey said that MCW nearly ran over her foot at the bread rack. Had I of known that, I would have added it to the mix. Then wifey asks, "How did she get here? She was using the store's cart so she must have driven and walked in first." Damn! Never thought of that. It would have been great to have asked MCW if she had driven the cart all the way from home, and if she drove/walked in, she wasn't as "crippled" as she made out to be.
In effect, I declared my Independence a few days early. No more shrugging off the "whatever" attitude or cries of pain at some perceived slur. Tough Noogies. Deal with it.
Been a crip for 12 years. I dont find the word crip offensive. Just don’t call me Late for Dinner.
The PC crowd has overplayed their hand, IMO.
I've finally decided that all these people who claim to be "offended" are offending ME, and I care more about MY feelings than I do THEIRS.
The one that gets me and I have a story about it, which I told here before, is called the halfwits ‘special’!
Differently abled.
I thought it was supposed to be "handicapable".
“If women can’t find you handy, they should at least find you handicapable”.
<You can practically get a handicapped placard these days just by asking for one. I was thinking that they might as well take the wheelchair symbol off the sign. I can’t recall the last time I saw someone parking in these spots who actually used one.
Not where I am. I had to beg for a permit when I had hip bursitis so bad I thought about suicide - and this was from a doctor in a pain clinic where they are used to people in severe pain and with mobility issues! They gave me one for 6 months, not the rest of my life.
With things like heart conditions, inability to walk long distances, etc. you may not see a wheelchair. That doesn’t mean the person doesn’t have a disability, permanent or temporary. Perhaps you meant that you’d seen disabled people using the permits, but hadn’t seen them in wheelchairs. Many disabilities are not visible.
>”Push is on to remove ‘handicap’ from signs”<
That’s Retarded Sir.
Thank you!
Bat Guano
How about a simple EN ABLED?
With handicap, that sounds like they’re making fun of us,” said Marci Straughter,
Well Marci it sounds as if your handicap is you never left grade school!
They’ll be lots of jobs replacing the signs. Obamanomics at its finest.
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