Smart Homes Are Game Changer for People with Disabilities
In the news broadcast on NBC News on the headline, “Smart Homes Are Game Changer for People with Disabilities,” the reporter talks about the impact of technology on people living with disabilities. In the report, the reporter uses words such as special needs, handicapped, and the deaf. Over time, there has been a need for euphemisms to apply a positive impact on the words they replace (Gernsbacher et al., 2016). Words such as special needs have evolved even into sports and education. However, special needs is not a legal term. The appropriate euphemism to use is either, individuals with disabilities or disabled (Crocker & Smith, 2019). Similarly, when referring to a group of individuals who are hearing impaired, it is wrong to refer to the individuals as the deaf. The correct term to use is people who are deaf, and the same applies to a group of people who are visually impaired.
In a book by William Leonard Roberts, “Freeway Rick Ross,” the author uses unacceptable terminologies to refer to individuals with a mobility disability or learning disability. Even though pop culture frequently uses such terms, they are offensive to individuals with disabilities (Crocker & Smith, 2019). The author uses words such as dumb and retards in his publication. The acceptable word to use instead of dumb is either a non-vocal or a person who is non-verbal (Gernsbacher et al., 2016). Another example of a limiting word the author uses in this book are terms such as lunatic, crazy, and mental. The more appropriate term the author could have otherwise used is either mental illness or psychiatric disability. These words are more efficient because when people are sensitive when it comes to disability and using terms such as crazy, lame, and, dumb it may be offensive.