Able-Bodied

We folk in the crip realm have our own language too. Such as, if you are not disabled, you are considered an AB or a TAB (temporarily able-bodied). Personally, I prefer the acronym TAB.

At any rate, got today’s CripHumor. It is titled “Ten Things Not to Say to the Able-Bodied”. There were several I didn’t get the joke of, but it’s from OUCH!, a UK thing, so perhaps something was lost in the translation.

Here at Ouch! we know there are plenty of questions you’re just dying to ask non-disabled people in order to understand their lives and their limited perspective . But we suggest you hold back in order that you don’t just mess with their minds or make them avoid disabled people forever more. And sometimes, you know, you’ve just got to be kind, think about their feelings. Here’s our helpful top ten list of things you should avoid saying to the Able Bodied:

“Would you say you’re ‘shoe dependent’?”

“The temptation to just keep on running must be almost too hard to resist sometimes?

“When you get ill, how do you know whether to call the doctor or not?”

“So, your pain goes away?”

“Come again? You’re depressed about what????”

“When you stare at people with disabilities, what connections are you trying to make in your head?”

“Does not having to pre-book transport make you feel free or nervous?”

“I guess you aren’t filled with jealous rage when you see the artistry and magnificence of Wayne Rooney on a soccer ball pitch because deep down you know you could be him if you wanted?

“When you illegally park in a disabled parking spot, is it because you think disabled people don’t exist or that you don’t exist?”

“If you mention walking, seeing, hearing, socializing, sports or anything to do with the 21st century near a disabled person, do you think they’re more likely to cry or sue?”

Got any disability themed top tens for us? Email your suggestions to
[email protected] and we’ll display the best ones!

I LOVE the first one. Shoe dependent, shoe-bound, shoe-confined. heh heh

**

It’s been a crazy few days here. I was supposed to go visit Elena in Charlotte Friday but we had a series of horrific thunderstorms here and since both the storms and myself would be heading east, I decided to go Saturday. Then, Friday night into Saturday morning, it rained here. Okay, perhaps poured would be a better word. We got so much rain, we were mentioned on the Weather Channel most of Saturday morning. The weather station just north of me recorded 3.98 inches of rain from midnight to two a.m. And, when I got up at 7 to get going, it was still raining. And again, the storms were heading toward Charlotte.

So now it is around 7:30 and we are getting ready to head out for real today. Current temp is a brisk 61F and no rain in sight.

Elena is loaning me her HF rig again as well as giving me some of her old QST magazines. I’ve been drooling. I’m taking her my old powerchair so that she can find it a home. She works closely with the local MS chapter and does things like this a lot.

Monday and Tuesday will be Edit Madness. I have to get close to 200 pages edited and turned over to Jane. We don’t want to delay this book any. Panic? Me? Heck yeah!