Posted by Lucy
Yesterday I met with a deaf woman who told me that she didn’t go to a therapist for her PTSD symptoms because she’s not “one of those crazy people” – signed by waving the hands around the head with a disgusted face – and I refrained from scolding her for having such scorn for people who experience mental illness.
A little over a week ago a person in the mental hospital informed me in a very loud voice that they were not “a retard” and wanted a new roommate that [didn’t have a developmental disability.]
An hour ago a would-be law clerk contacted me about writing a paper about state law requirements to report abuse of persons with disability that trump the privileges of lawyers, clergy, and social workers, requiring them to call in to the state any abuse of a “person with a disability.” This law would require me to report it to the government were a deaf client to tell me in confidence that her boyfriend had hit her!
Why is it that many people with disabilities are constantly trying to distance themselves from being lumped together with other disability groups? I always assumed it was the pressures people with disability confront in society that cause them to push harder on others perceived to be “beneath” them. But could it be the law itself – our own legal category of “disability” – that causes my clients to distance themselves from one another time and again?
Is the law the REASON these groups are at pains to distinguish themselves from each other?
1 comment:
I don't consider my self disabled--and yet having bipolar disorder has certainly been a disability at different points of my life---this is a touchy subject for a lot of us.
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