Ableism: 10 attitudes and expressions that are offensive to people with disabilities – 01/11/2024 – Balance

The new edition of the reality show Big Brother Brasil raised a discussion about ableism – a form of prejudice that places people with disabilities in a position of inferiority.

During the Globo program leader’s first test, which began on Monday (9), participant Maycon made comments considered offensive about Paralympic athlete Vinícius Rodrigues.

The school cook referred to Vinicius’s amputated leg as “tococo” and “cotinho”, expressions considered pejorative when referring to amputated limbs.

Maycon also asked the sprinter if he could “nickname” his prosthesis and suggested giving it the name “cotinho”

Vinicius laughed at his colleague’s statements, but according to the superintendent of Assistance Practices at AACD, Alice Rosa Ramos, the expressions can be understood as offensive and ableist by other people with disabilities.

“Some people may consider comments like this part of a joke and not be offended, but others may laugh just to avoid feeling left out,” he says.

“The most respectful way is to ask the person with a disability if they refer to the prosthesis or the disability in a different way – and use the same term as they do.”

Daniel Dias, Paralympic swimming athlete and ambassador for Ottobock, manufacturer of the prosthetics used by Vinícius in the program, also classified the comments as ableist in a video published on his social networks.

“This attitude that happened with Vinícius on the program happens in our everyday lives,” Dias told the UOL portal.

“If it were with anyone else, he wouldn’t talk that way. What we want is for people to look at us and not at our disability. Before the disability, there is the person.”

To raise awareness and suggest that they be abolished from everyday life, the TST (Superior Labor Court) and the Ministry of Citizenship developed mini-guides with expressions and attitudes considered ableist.

BBC News Brasil gathered some of them below.

1. Treating people with disabilities in a childish way

Many people with disabilities point out that they are constantly infantilized, something that should be avoided as much as possible.

Using condescending and patronizing language in conversations with people with disabilities is ableism.

According to experts, by acting in this way, parents, caregivers and other people may believe that they are being kind or benevolent when, in fact, they are preventing the person with a disability from exercising their right to independence.

Furthermore, disability is not an illness, and a person with a disability does not necessarily have poor health.

Assuming this or treating a person with a disability as a patient is also a form of prejudice.

The Ministry of Citizenship also advises against, for example, repeating the same thing many times to people with disabilities, as if they were not understanding, or speaking loudly to a blind person (unless they also have a hearing impairment).

There are those who also point out the existence of myths and taboos about sex and people with disabilities.

Actress Mared Jarman, who became blind in her right eye after being diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease (a degenerative condition associated with progressive vision loss) at age 10, wrote the comedy How This Blind Girl (“Like this blind girl”, in direct translation), from the BBC, because she was tired of seeing characters with disabilities portrayed as asexual or fetishized.

“It’s just ridiculous that they think we don’t have the same instincts and motivation as everyone else,” he told the BBC.

2. Considering the person’s achievements as a ‘miracle’

Saying that a person with a disability “is a warrior”, “an example of overcoming obstacles” or that they “work miracles” can be considered offensive.

According to the TST, ableism is often a feeling or behavior of “sympathy” for people with disabilities, but which supports an idea of ​​social and economic subordination.

“Understand disability as a possibility of life. Detach it from the tragedy”, says the court.

According to Ramos, it is always good to give credit for the objective achieved, “but not assuming that, due to the disability, that person cannot do something”.

3. Exalting disability as a justification for special treatment

Treating people with disabilities differently from people without disabilities can be a form of exclusion.

Disability does not mean that a person is less intelligent or capable than anyone else. Someone is also not inferior just because they have a disability.

According to the Ministry of Citizenship’s booklet, people with disabilities do not have to serve as an example for other people.

“Of course, you can admire them, but don’t turn them into your motivation”, recommends the folder.

“If you’re going to be an example, let it be because of your attitudes, right? But not because you have a disability.”

This also applies to the work environment: disability does not make a person less professional than others.

There is no specific activity that is better or worse for people with disabilities.

“With the necessary adaptations in the work environment, not even the sky is the limit!”, says the booklet.

Ramos points out that, in school or work environments, adjustments may need to be made to ensure inclusion.

But this does not mean that that person with a disability is less capable.

4. Offering help without being asked

According to the TST manual, this behavior should be avoided.

Anyone needs support. Therefore, it is important not to confuse ableism with the need for care and assistance.

The Ministry of Citizenship explains that, in the case of a person with a disability who is having difficulty crossing the street, for example, help can be offered, but without insistence.

“If the person with a disability needs your support, they will ask for it (or their caregiver, if applicable)”, says the ministry.

“A person with a disability is not proud or stuck up if they refuse to be helped when you offer support. Sometimes they don’t really need help.”

5. Disabled, have special needs or have a disability?

The guideline is to use the term “person with a disability (PWD)” and never expressions such as “person with special needs”, “disabled person” or “disabled”.

The term “person with disability” was defined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, approved in 2006 by the UN General Assembly and ratified by Brazil.

This convention says that disability results from the combination of two factors: the clinical impairments that exist in people (which can be physical, intellectual, sensory, etc.) and the barriers that are around them (in architecture, in means of transport, in communication and, above all, in our attitude).

According to experts, taking care with words is not precious, but is part of the search for a more civilized coexistence.

6. Terms that should be abolished from vocabulary

“Retarded”, “mongolian”, “demented”, “imbecile”.

These terms are also completely inappropriate and offensive to refer to people with intellectual disabilities.

Discrimination is prohibited by the Statute of Persons with Disabilities (Law 13,146/2015) and by the Federal Constitution itself.

They should also not be used for people without disabilities, as there is a history of prejudice associated with these words.

7. ‘I made a mistake’

Some expressions that many people use in their everyday lives are also considered the result of prejudice and should be banned from vocabulary.

The expression “got a limp”, for example, refers to people who have asymmetrical gait.

When associating the act of limping with making mistakes or doing something stupid, the term is considered ableist and offensive.

8. ‘We don’t have an arm/leg for that’

Saying that you “don’t have an arm” to perform a task is considered a way of insinuating that a person who doesn’t have an arm could not do that job or fulfill the obligation with quality.

“Who said that an amputee, who doesn’t have an arm or a leg, can’t do that activity”, says the AACD superintendent.

9. ‘Faking dementia’

Dementia is a term used to describe a set of symptoms that affect brain function, such as problems with memory, reasoning, language and behavior.

Therefore, it is not something that one chooses or pretends to have, nor should it be associated with someone’s negative behavior.

10. ‘He acted like Hansel without an arm’

Not having an arm is a physical condition, not a behavioral one.

Not having an arm, therefore, does not mean that the person is lazy, less willing to help others or able to take on responsibilities.

“Using this expression is saying that the person who doesn’t have an arm is using it as an excuse not to do some activity”, explains Ramos.

Good practices

The Ministry of Citizenship lists some practical tips for good behavior, such as:

• do not distract guide dogs;
• do not park in the space or use the bathroom reserved for people with disabilities;
• do not use a wheelchair to hang things or lean on (unless you have permission from the owner).

“Other tips: only push someone’s wheelchair if they ask. And remember that the chair goes where the wheelchair user needs to go. It’s as simple as that”, says the folder’s booklet.

Sitting to answer or talk to someone who is in a wheelchair is also a good practice, so that the person in the chair does not have to look up for a long time.

But, in general, the guideline is always to respect human diversity and understand people as a whole.

“Disability is just one of its characteristics”, says the TST booklet.

Other tips from the court are to always respect the law and try to do your part to ensure accessibility: “Value and live with differences.”