Just as a quick anecdotal aside, “autist” is one of those “on the fence” type of words when it comes to ableism. To some, it’s absolutely fine and correct, to others it feels like an insult or is a slur. To be safe, go with autistic first, but I’ve heard plenty of people refer to themselves as “autists” already. I don’t think many of those I’ve spoken to see it as defending the term. Heh, one of them actually told me they feel like it’s a term that people used as an insult and they refuse to acknowledge that usage. It’s personal, like you said, we all have our thoughts on what we find offensive. I guess at least one of the people I talked to wanted to reclaim the term for themselves.

This came out of Lanz of all people? What is happening to German media? /s

Interviewer Colin Warren: Do you have any regrets now that you have a criminal record?

Graham Granger: No. This is something I feel very strongly about, and I think that it was something that had to be done. I’m not going to say I’m glad I was the one to do it, because I don’t like to make myself the center of attention in this way, but I don’t regret having a criminal record.

Good kid

Trust me, I’m just as inconsistent in that regard, don’t worry about it :) it’s something to keep in mind and maybe expand upon when we have time and feel like it. Life is busy, this is not a high priority, but a nice thing we could go for

That’s an interesting bit of linguistic history, thank you for sharing that!

I’ll be completely honest, I had to google how nimrod could possibly be a slur because I only know it as the biblical name, but I think you could compare these two in a sense. It seems like nimrod gained it’s obscure derogatory meaning over time, while bad seems to have lost it (over a much longer period).

bump amber whataboutism volcel police big bumping for you, I hope the surgery will help!

On a personal note, and not as a moderator, I would like to point out something that struck me while reading the comments all of you made in this thread. There are a lot of terms both on and off the Ableist words/terms list that don’t feel insulting to some but feel (immensely) insulting to others, and that is okay. We all perceive things differently, some words are always slurs, others depend on the person and/or context. The point I wanted to make is that I feel it’s important that we give each other grace when it comes to terms that we perceive as hurtful or not. If someone doesn’t mind using a term or being spoken to with that term, that is fine, but at the same time, if a conversation partner does not appreciate or tolerate being addressed with the same term, we should not use it. Making conversations and language accommodating doesn’t mean that words are forbidden from being mentioned. But it is important to understand that just because something is okay for you, it doesn’t have to be okay for someone else.

Anecdoctal mention of my own experience: While I am disabled, I severely dislike being called disabled by other people. I’ve been bullied in school for having a disability pass, and people would mock and tease me for needing special accommodations. To me, being called disabled by other people still feels like a slur, even though “disabled” is by no means one.

over a much much longer time period “bad” lost its misogynist or homophobic connotation

I have actually never heard of that, can you elaborate a bit? I’m curious

Thank you for that addition, Fanon, I appreciate it a lot!

Let me know when you do because I could use mentoring in this.

Wanna make a little club to practice this in a safe environment?

Good reply, and thank you for putting that much effort in, I appreciate it!

The point of the list, as you correctly quoted, is to address words that can be ableist and/or have an ableist origin. Just like with “lame” in the other comment thread, I think the term “phobia” is a thing of subjective perception. In general, I would recommend reading the List of Terms to Avoid as a loose guidebook on how certain expressions can be perceived as slurs or degradation, some plainly are, and others have ableist origins. The point really isn’t to say “You’re not allowed to call it x-phobia” anymore, but to be aware that there is, as you correctly and elaborately explained, a double meaning, historically and presently to the term. The awareness and consciousness about the origins of certain terms (even if only in part) is essential to understanding how pervasive ableism is. Sometimes, we do manage to reclaim these words, but these things take time, and effort. So thank you again for putting in the effort of highlighting the complexity of phobia as a term and how one may see it as ableist or not.

I appreciated that joke a lot, just so you know <3

I feel you comrade, I am myself struggling with this exact same problem, and I would like to go full vegetarian at the minimum. However, recent developments in my own health now force me to stick with eating specific types of meat. It’s frustrating, it makes me feel bad even though I know it’s not my fault.

This is a very good example too! Thank you for sharing it <3

bump amber whataboutism volcel police

I’m focusing on your second point, because I think the first one applies to a lot more groups than just disabled people and people with disabilities.

If someone disagrees with you and is not academically correct-ish, and is not ableist in the way they do it, you should make sure to engage in good faith and mindfully try to educate them. (That’s the easy one.)

If someone is ableist while they disagree, make sure to point it out to them, in an understanding but not overbearing fashion. There’s ableist statements that will immediately stick out to you, and others that won’t, but you can’t know them all, so don’t worry about it too much. The point is to keep it in mind and question both what others say, and what you say, which brings me to the last point.

If you find yourself disagreeing with someone and have that impulse to say something ableist, consider what you actually want to convey with your statement. Are you upset? Are you in disbelief over your conversation partner’s lack of knowledge on the topic? Are you just surprised to hear their take? Try to phrase this sentiment precisely, or, if it’s the other person who says the ableist thing, ask them what they actually want to convey with that statement.

The point of empathy, at least to me in the context you’re describing, is that you should just let it pass. It’s such a prominent part of modern day communication that most people don’t even know how their statements are or can be ableist. The empathetic point is to try and educate them in an understanding manner without being condescending or overbearing. It’s an useful but difficult to learn skill, and it isn’t one I have mastered myself either.

I feel like I went off topic, but I hope the take kind of helps you with your question.

I have just changed the links from .org to .li, and they should all be working now! Let me know if they don’t <3

I think it’s fair to assume that the movie Psycho is both a symptom and a cause for the spread of the term in everyday language. It had a wide societal impact when it released and is still remembered to this day.

As I am not myself blind, I don’t feel qualified to reply properly to your question and would like a blind comrade to answer your question as well. What I can tell you as a general rule of thumb is that you thinking about how your choice of words may have been ableist is already a good thing (and incidentally also what the community wanted to achieve with the post).

I could have either left off the last part or phrased it differently, maybe “and I just don’t realize it.”

And this is already a good way of analyzing what you said, and you’re also thinking about how to say it differently. I appreciate you asking!

Thank you too, comrade, and we’re all trying to be better with this