TIME TO GET RID OF "SPECIAL"?

(Over the next few days I will be sharing information, writings,etc. that are not my own. Just as this is not my own written piece, per se, I still believe it and I am sharing it with you all. The last sentence makes the point for me.)

by John R. Woodward, M.S..W. Center for Independent Living of North Florida, Inc.


"Special education," "special needs," and the "Special Olympics" -- isn't it about time we got rid of them? If we can dispense with the word "handicapped" then it's past time to stop being "special."
"Special" implies differentness and apartness. "Special" is the label on segregated programs: "special education" and "Special Olympics." "Special" is a euphemism, a word introduced by do- gooders to sugar-coat their control of our lives. After all, disabled citizens have "special needs" not "special rights." "Special" is a dangerous one to let go by, because it has an aura that attracts the media. Everybody loves the "special kids" because, gosh darn it, they're so loveable up there on that poster.
A hundred major corporations support the "Special Olympics," "Special Scouting" and "Very Special Arts."
No right-thinking person would dare criticize a "Special" organization. Maybe ADAPT needs to change its name to "Very Special Activists."
A "television special" is an unusual treat.
A "Special Agent of the FBI" has extra powers. The "daily special" is an extra value.
A "special guest star" is someone considered attractive and important.
Do these qualities describe your life?
"Special" infantilizes and trivializes the identity of a disabled person. If you are disabled, you are not "special"; you are disadvantaged and oppressed. When it is used to refer to disabled people, "special" isn't at all descriptive. If you didn't know "special education" means teaching kids with disabilities, you couldn't figure it out.
Recently, some folks with developmentally disabilities in started a Jaycees chapter here in Tallahassee. They didn't call it the "Special Jaycees." They called it the "Action Jaycees of Tallahassee." Now they're a nationally-accredited Jaycee chapter, with all the rights and responsibilities that go with accreditation. They didn't need "special" because they didn't have a lot of do-gooders running things for them.
Can you imagine a day when the sponsors will let the "special kids" run the "Special Olympics"? What would they call it -- "The Empowerment Games"? We need to become as militant about "special" as we are about "handicapped" and the Jerry Lewis Telethon. Let reporters and managers of charitable organizations know that we feel "special" is inappropriate. If you confront them often enough, they'll get the message.
We need to deny that there's anything "special" about being disabled, so we can stop getting "special treatment" instead of justice.
Reprinted with Permission from The Disability Rag, 11/91