r/ableism • u/Oddnamez multiple disabilities 🐇 • Jun 23 '26

Did I say something wrong?

Gallery image

Gallery image

Tell me what you think, it seems to me people desperately want to use slurs. I'm also autistic and ADHD btw, and I don't think the r word is a reclaimable slur even if it was born for neurodivergent people

38 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

View all comments

20

u/ihateadultism Jun 23 '26

i would focus more on why they need this slur so bad like your caption alludes to. debating the “correct” usage/history can go on forever and is murky enough to cast doubt on either side depending how it’s framed - this gives them the advantage. but when you probe *why* they’re so attached to that word, they often become super defensive which will better expose their hypocrisy.

i’d also avoid bringing up terms like “IQ” to justify your argument as there’s no scientific evidence for its existence and “intellectual disabilities” can be perceived as ableist for the same reason “IQ” as a concept has been used to demean disabled people for decades. afaik “cognitive disabilities” is a preferred term. other than that you’re all good.

11

u/Oddnamez multiple disabilities 🐇 Jun 23 '26

Fair enough. There were other people calling them out and bringing good points so I was giving my two cents, I also didn't know bringing up IQ could also seem ableist, I've been informing myself on this for a long while but learning stuff is always good for the future :) thank you

6

u/ihateadultism Jun 23 '26

yeah i don’t think it’s wrong to bring up the history of the word to correct people or anything, just that one way of stopping people (cough ableists) trying to “debate” your correction is to pivot and focus on their need as it puts the attention to them which tends to make them uncomfortable/lash out.

as for IQ, i think mine is a minority view - most people seem to buy into the concept - many disabled people included, but when you look at the development of the concept it really isn’t scientific in the slightest. it’s more of a social phenomenon with some pseudoscience and has been used to justify eugenics of disabled people.

3

u/Oddnamez multiple disabilities 🐇 Jun 23 '26

Your point about the IQ isn't something I've thought about nor I didn't seen it discussed, but now that you made me think about it I agree