There are trigger words, words that make me subconsciously wince whenever I hear them. My first instinct is to immediately act out on my impulses, to interrogate the writer/speaker, get to the bottom of why those words were used and why I think their use is problematic in terms of disability studies and history. Then I have to reassess, to realize that everyone’s experience of disability is different, everyone’s words surrounding disability are different and no less thought-out, that someone using words I wouldn’t dare use to describe disability is no less deserving of being paid attention to or read, that it simply reflects their own personal experience and is not a reflection on mine or my beliefs.
Sometimes I over-analyze things too much, I think.
Natalie Abbott 