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From: Jeff.Salzberg@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Jeff Salzberg)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: public relations
Message-ID: <16111@handicap.news>
Date: 17 Jun 91 20:28:59 GMT
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[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

 SG> People with
 SG> Down's Syndrome--we'll call them Mongoloids, does this term stay
 SG> the same? It was functional, we all knew who it meant to
 SG> represent. Do I agree with it? NO

 Nor do I.  The term originated in the fact that many (most?  all?)
 people with Down's Syndrome have a slight Asiatic-looking slant to
 their eyes; it's not accurate, as it implies an ethnicity that "ain't
 necessarily so".

 Ditto the word "crippled".  It's just not accurate.

 SG>   Until we can fully educate society, we might have to do some
 SG> terminology juggling, so to speak.

 When we do that, we are accepting the old word as pejoratives; I think
 it would be more effective to teach society that the words are NOT
 pejorative and that the condition is NOT the basis for a slur.

... "This is English up with which I will not put." - Winston Churchill

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