1:58pm July 14, 2013

➸ "You don't need this junk. You need a cat.": I think I may have written the following paragraph ten years ago?

youneedacat:

“I have a recurring nightmare. I am in a beautiful building with a hushed, playful atmosphere. I have been there as long as I can remember. Everything I could possibly need is there. There are no locks on the doors. People follow me everywhere, but just out of sight, to give me the illusion of…

The phrase “in the community” (when used in regards to disabled — particularly developmentally disabled — people) always made me feel uncomfortable, but I could never really put my finger on *why* it did. But now I think I’ve figured it out: because a lot of the things — i.e. group homes — that are being touted as being “in the community" (as opposed to an institution) really are institutions, or near to being institutions, or are not really part of “the community" (whatever that even means). I’ve really come to distrust seemingly positive language used by non-disabled people to talk about disabled people (one of my other least-favourites is “meaningful work" which I’ve seen used to mean “any work at all, even if it’s below-minimum wage"). In fact, I often find it more unsettling than negative language because at least then you know that person is someone untrustworthy, someone to avoid.

Notes: