Dictionary
The following are definitions of terms within disabled academia and disabled subcultures; not all disabled people use the same terms but they are the most common and will be applicable to what you see on this particular blog. I will be updating this post so feel free to add on.
Identity terms
Disabled person: someone excluded from society because of a perceived lack of ability to contribute to the economy
Normate: a hearing, speaking, physically able, neurologically typical person living within normal (nondisabled) culture. Rosemarie Garland-Thomson defines normate as, "the constructed identity of those who, by way of the bodily configurations and cultural capital they assume, can step into a position of authority and wield the power it grants them."
PCA: Personal Care Attendant
AB or able-bodied: a person who is not physically disabled
NT or neurologically typical: a person who does not have a mental disability
ND or neurologically divergent: a person who has a mental disability
NTAB: a person with no disabilities who does not necessarily living in normal society (as in ASL Immersion schools)
Chronic illness:
a. any life-threatening condition that requires pharmacological and/or mechanical support of vital organ functions
b. conditions that last 1 or more years and require ongoing medical attention and/or limit activities of daily living
Dynamic Disability: When a disabled persons support needs varies or when I person may function as an able bodied person but then may be disabled during a flare-up
Invisible Disability: a physical, mental or neurological condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities that is invisible to the onlooker
Mutant: someone who is born disabled and/or has a congenital disease (inspired by X-Men)
Mutate: an AB who becomes disabled (inspired by Avengers)
Supercripple: disabled person who does something that would be considered normal for an AB but is lauded as an inspiration
Transhuman: someone who exceeds average physical form and/or consciousness with the assistance of advanced technology
Community terms
ADAPT: American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, a nonviolent direct action disability justice group famous for activism such as the "capital crawl"
Aesthetics: the following are genres of aesthetics associated with disabled people and/or disability as a social class
a) Drugcore: aesthetics involving the paraphernalia and appearance of drugs. Used in an effort to normalize the use of medication
b) Hikkicore/Neetcore:
Hikikomori is a Japanese term that refers to people who withdrawal from society and seek extreme degrees of social isolation.
NEET (an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment, or Training") refers to a person who is unemployed and not receiving an education or vocational training.
These can be distinctly different groups, although they overlap, but are often colloquially used interchangeably in English-speaking communities to disparage people who are homebound either by choice or because of disabilities. Hikkicore and Neetcore is anesthetic that romanticizes this lifestyle.
c) Medicalcore/Medcore, Hospitalcore: aesthetics involving the paraphernalia and appearance of all things medical.
d) Sickcore: aesthetics of illness and archetypes of unhealthy bodies
Cripple Punk/Cpunk: As defined by Tyler a.k.a. Tai, creator of Cripple Punk
"A movement that is exclusively by the physically disabled for the physically disabled, started on tumblr. It's about rejecting pity, inspiration porn, & all other forms of ableism. It ejects the “good cripple” mythos. Cripple Punk is here for the bitter cripple, the uninspirational cripple, the smoking cripple, the drinking cripple, the addict cripple, the cripple who hasn’t “tried everything”. Cripple Punk fights internalized ableism & fully supports those struggling with it. It respects intersections of race, culture, gender, sexual/romantic orientation, size, intersex status, mental illness/neuroatypical status, survivor status, etc. Cripple Punk does not pander to the able bodied."
Rules:
-cripple punk is not conditional on things like mobility aids & “functioning levels” -always listen to those w/ different physical disabilities & different intersections than yourself. do not speak over them -disabled people do not need to personally identify w/ the words “cripple” or “punk” individually to be a part of cripple punk -able bodied people wishing to spread the message may only ever amplify the voices of the disabled -able bodied people may never use uncensored slurs themselves but never censor our language -able bodied people must always tag things like reblogs with “i’m able bodied”
– Tyler a.k.a. Tai
Nupunk or Neuro Punk: a community by and for neurologically divergent people who reject cure culture, promote treatment based on a person's individual needs and desires. Neuro Punk recognizes the subjectivity of reality and holds it's members to respect the scientifically observable actions of others as long as no one's personal liberties are compromised.
Nucpunk: both Cpunk and Nupunk
Spoonie: member of a sub–community within the disabled community of people who have a chronic illness and use the Spoon Theory created by Christine Miserandino
Voidpunk: a subculture among dehumanized groups that is normally described as the rejection of the human identity, and embracing being nonhuman
Common activist slogans: “Nothing About Us Without Us” (Latin: "Nihil de nobis, sine nobis"), “Adapt and Resist” coined by ADAPT
Theory terms
Ableism: bigotry toward disabled people
Ableist: adjective for ableism
Ablenationalism: a favorable association between a nationalist ideology and abled people. This term refers to the way a society romanticizes ablebodied norms of inclusion to make distinctions between national cultures and citizenships.
Accessibles: items used to improve mobility like wheelchairs, crutches, etc.
Ashley Treatment: when a child is surgically and/or hormonally altered to stunt their growth
Asylum porn: Asylum and hospitals being used to invoke fear as a form of entertainment (horror films, Halloween haunted houses, etc. but also using abandoned asylums and hospitals more photography, ghost hunting, or games of dare)
Burrito test: a simple test to judge whether a "home" or institution gives residents a basic level of freedom. The test: if a resident wakes up hungry in the middle of the night are they able to retrieve a frozen burrito and warm it up for themselves
Brain fog: a symptom of many neurological conditions in which a person is momentarily disoriented
Cripping up/Cripple face: Normates acting as disabled characters
Crip Time: The concept refers to the perspective of the time it takes to do a given activity as opposed to "regular time" (an example would be that able-bodied person equates the activity of getting a snack to be five minutes but depending on a person's disability it can equate to a half hour for them, thus saying "I'll be ready after I get a snack" can mean different things to disabled people versus abled people)
Devotee: someone who has a fetish for physically disabled people
Design apartheid: describes the exclusionary system that architecture and cultural wars are built on that frame accommodations for anyone not neurologically typical and/or able-bodied as aesthetically unpleasing (an example being wheelchair ramps not being incorporated into a building's design but a utilitarian addition that becomes a eyesore)
Disability Arts Ghetto: artistic activities of disabled people that are sidelined by the majority and have a primary audience of other disabled people (this originally refers to the UK art scene)
Disabled coding: establishing a character as disabled through visible cues such as the use of accessible equipment or physical disfigurement
Euphemism Treadmill: the process by which euphemisms fall into disuse and are replaced by new ones, as the old ones become socially unacceptable over time. (ex. idiot becomes retard becomes down syndrome)
Greyhound therapy: the practice of mental hospitals discharging untreated patients with one-way tickets out of town
Hospital glam: fashion specifically intended to be worn during hospital admissions and doctors appointments. The emphasis is on accessibility for nurses, comfort, and unique style to maintain one's identity
Masquerade: disability drag
Miracle cure: a narrative plot in which a disabled person becomes a Normate in order to find happiness
Spoons: measurements of exertions of energy based on the Spoon Theory
Supercrip: disabled person featured in inspirational porn
Models of disability
exemplified by Ju Gosling below:
a) according to the Charity Model of Disability:
I organise social events for non-disabled people. This raises money to create jobs for non-disabled people. Then we provide the disabled people whom we think are deserving with the things that we think they need.
b) according to the Medical Model of Disability:
I invent and administer tests to classify disabled people according to what I think are their impairments. Then I carry out experiments to try to make them more like me. If I fail, I try to identify and kill them before they are born.
c) according to the Administrative Model of Disability:
I invent and administer tests to classify disabled people by what I think are their inabilities. Then I judge the minimum level of benefits and services that I think they need to survive.
d) according to the Social Model of Disability:
I fight against prejudice, discrimination and disabling environments. I fight for equal rights legislation and better health and social care provision. I also fight to eliminate the poverty, abuse, violence and war that cause the majority of impairments.
