“Special” Needs

As a disabled individual, a term I really hate is “special needs”. This feels very invalidating as I don’t believe my needs to be special. In fact, I think of them as just plain needs. Necessities. Sure, my needs might not be ones you encounter often, but the term “special” makes my needs feel like a burden. And needs are not a burden. They are something that allows you to thrive in the world.

Another term that I don’t love to hear is “handicapable” or “handicapped” for that matter. Handicapped has a negative connotation of a person having a cap in hand, begging for money. That is how society views disabled individuals. Handicapable tries to twist this and reclaim this word when it isn’t something the disabled community necessarily wants to reclaim. As a disabled individual, I am actually incapable of doing things. I don’t have some superpower. I have something that makes my day-to-day life an extra challenge. Handicapable minimizes this.

As we move forward and learn more, it is important to stay up to date on terms that disabled individuals are and are not comfortable with.