Is it discrimination to treat Handicapped people better than the rest of us?

[Archedgar]

Handicap parking is not discrimination, it's common sense/


However, giving mentally retarded individuals a free pass on anything bad they might do, absolutely is and should not happen.

 

[bluepilot]

Treating people equally does not mean treating them the same.

The world would suck if we were all treated the same... Imagine if some of you gentlemen had to get PAP smears in the name of equality... And I am not even sure how that would work.

Society has adapted to respond to the needs of each individual. It is not really discrimination more discernment. To put it another way, it order to qualify for "special" treatment you have to meet a set of requirements. Any one of us has the potential to become disabled. A crippling disease, a misguided attempt to fly, a car accident... And at that moment when your body cripples into disrepair you will meet the requirements. The safety net is there to catch anybody who falls into it and therefore does not discriminate. It is fit-for-purpose, nothing more.

 

[manic_depressive13]

I know right. All these retards, niggers, and broads are insisting on making life difficult for us. Why do things have to be so difficult for healthy, white, upper middle-class men?

 

[Svenparty]

I think that all people should be equal to their circumstance, if you were suddenly handicapped the support would be there. Anyone who gets pissed off at not being able to park closer when your legs work needs to get their priorities straight.

Although what are you really missing out on? Bigger toilets? Its easy to get away with most of the things they "have"


Attitudes like this however:

I know right. All these retards, niggers, and broads are insisting on making life difficult for us. Why do things have to be so difficult for healthy, white, upper middle-class men?

Come across as discriminating on someone based on their background. Being Middle Class and White is just as controllable as being born handicapped or black.

 

[Kotaro]

Sorry, but I agree with the OP.
Personally, I treat everyone the same, be they physically fit, handicapped, male, female, white, black, or anything else. I am against discrimination of all kinds (both the "normal" kind and the "reverse" kind); everyone is human, so they should be treated equally. This is why I am also against things like minority-exclusive scholarships.
As for the handicapped parking spaces issue, this guy sums it up pretty well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRkKWCsv-s4

 

[BlueMage]

If my Legs didn't work i would want special fucken treatment!

Why? Sure, it sucks, but no more so than being born a ginger, or in the ghetto. Why should you receive special treatment because of a twist of fate?

Because people can get out of the ghetto and dye their hair. People without the use of their legs can't get out of the chair.

Edit: Also, how the hell is being born a ginger even in the same sentence as being born in the ghetto? I get it, gingers have no soul. Hardyharhar. *Sigh* Can you please stop copying South Park. That joke wasn't funny to begin with and people have used it to death.

No, I'm pretty sure gingers were soulless before South Park made mention of that fact. Just sayin'.

Incidentally, I notice no-one's making mention of external augmentation, ie, exo-skeletons for locomotion. It's no longer the case that someone born without the ability to walk will never walk. What a wonderful age we live in!

You're right, we do have some things like that in today's age. Problem is that they're very expensive and still don't have the same feel or look as normal legs. Not to mention that they're severe problems with them. Some of the largest being severe power supply problems and material problems. And even then, what do you do with a mentally disabled person? They count as Handicapped too ya know.

Indeed they are friend, indeed they are. What is a mental disability however? And does it confer the same access to special entitlements as a physical handicap?

And, um, yeah, a wearable exo-skeleton won't look the same as someone with functioning legs. Mostly because of the metal everywhere. Still, what's a little metal? I'm pretty certain that if I'd lost the use of my legs, I'd sign up to be a guinea pig for precisely such testing.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

If my Legs didn't work i would want special fucken treatment!

Why? Sure, it sucks, but no more so than being born a ginger, or in the ghetto. Why should you receive special treatment because of a twist of fate?

Because people can get out of the ghetto and dye their hair. People without the use of their legs can't get out of the chair.

Edit: Also, how the hell is being born a ginger even in the same sentence as being born in the ghetto? I get it, gingers have no soul. Hardyharhar. *Sigh* Can you please stop copying South Park. That joke wasn't funny to begin with and people have used it to death.

No, I'm pretty sure gingers were soulless before South Park made mention of that fact. Just sayin'.

Incidentally, I notice no-one's making mention of external augmentation, ie, exo-skeletons for locomotion. It's no longer the case that someone born without the ability to walk will never walk. What a wonderful age we live in!

You're right, we do have some things like that in today's age. Problem is that they're very expensive and still don't have the same feel or look as normal legs. Not to mention that they're severe problems with them. Some of the largest being severe power supply problems and material problems. And even then, what do you do with a mentally disabled person? They count as Handicapped too ya know.

Indeed they are friend, indeed they are. What is a mental disability however? And does it confer the same access to special entitlements as a physical handicap?

And, um, yeah, a wearable exo-skeleton won't look the same as someone with functioning legs. Mostly because of the metal everywhere. Still, what's a little metal? I'm pretty certain that if I'd lost the use of my legs, I'd sign up to be a guinea pig for precisely such testing.

Autism? ADD/ADHD? Aspeger? Dyslexia? Down Syndrome? You're telling me that people who have these disabilities should be forced to struggle and most likely fail due to being born with stuff like this?

And you still haven't touched on what I said earlier in regards to Exo skeletons. Most powered exo skeletons take too much energy too run, are too heavy, can severely damage user by just being used and probably won't be perfected for quite a while. A disabled person can't make use of something that isn't open to the public yet.

 

[CplDustov]

Each person has different needs. Sometimes, for whatever reason, it's a little more effort than others. So things like in post 2. Parking spaces etc. is a way of allowing a human being to lead a life with all the basic needs of their day to day life catered for. I don't need ramps. Someone in a wheelchair does. Holding a door open for them is curteous, not discriminatory. Not doing it for ANYone would be rude. I guess more so in cases where your passive lack of caring makes life that much more difficult when you'd hardly lose much by taking 2 seconds of your time to help in that way. Of course jobs will be difficult. Regardless of how "discriminatory" it would seem it's unlikely that such a person could join SWAT teams breaking into a bank or something like that

 

[sosolidshoe]

there are some forms of autism I think that pretty much make you unable to function in the real world/without some help, obviously there are varying degrees of it, in the case of your roomate i dont know his situation, he obviously doesnt need that much if he can work

It's Aspergers but I think he makes most of it up to be honest. He's a complete arsehole, and his disability makes him that much more of an arse. He had a job that lasted about an hour because he got into a massive argument with the first person he served so they sacked him on the spot. He just doesn't like being told to do something that involves effort.

If some people can use it as an excuse, they will. I'm sure there's plenty of Aspergers sufferers on here that can hold down a job, maybe not as easily as others but the fact is, they make the effort.

I know this is in vain, but I'm going to make the effort, because it might make your roommate's life a little easier if you had a proper understanding. Alas, I must rely on your ability to empathise and sympathise, qualities I have found to be deficient even in people who don't have a medical excuse, but then I'm a cynical arsehole just like your flattie.

Ok, I want you to think, really hard, and imagine the most frustrating and irritating discussion you've ever had in your life. Everyone's had one of these experiences I assume, that time when no matter what you said, the person you were speaking to failed to grasp the point, a point that to you, was as self-evident as the nose on your face. You explain, you reason, you reach for metaphors and anecdotes and examples of every kind to illustrate your point, and the other person keeps misunderstanding you, or misrepresenting what you just said.

Now imagine that the vast majority of conversations you have with other people follow just that pattern, regardless of what the topic of discussion is, you find yourself constantly unable to properly communicate your position to other people, and to your mind, this happens in spite of what you have said being perfectly logical, rational, sane, and easy to comprehend.

Ok, so that's the first point out of the way, lets try another.

I want you to imagine a time where you had a burning, passionate interest in something. Not just something you thought was cool, or that you spent a short while considering, but something which demanded your complete attention, to the exclusion of all else, to the point that nothing else seemed important, that any interruption or distraction made you literally enraged at the imposition.

Now, imagine that this kind of driven focus grasps you frequently, completely outwith your control. You can attempt to force yourself into a normal pattern, to focus on the task of the moment, but every thought that comes into your mind is related to whatever subject has grabbed your attention. This state might last for hours, or for days, or for months at a time, and the periods in between, while shorter, are filled with almost unutterable boredom.

One more.

This one doesn't really have an analogue for "regular" people, but perhaps you were socially awkward enough at some point in your life to find it familiar. I want you to imagine that you're talking with another person, face to face. Now consider all the things that are happening that you don't even consciously recognise at the time; the other person's posture, facial expression, tone of voice. All the little ques that your brain is analysing moment to moment that tell you when someone is about to speak out loud, when someone is becoming bored and would prefer you to stop talking, whether what you've said has offended, whether you're being teased in a friendly way or if they're mocking you deliberately. I want you to imagine what it would be like if none of those ques existed.

Now finally, imagine that all of the above are true for you, all of the time. Then consider that most people with Aspergers are not diagnosed until their late teens - early twenties; they have gone through their formative years struggling to communicate with others, struggling even to understand others, unable to comprehend why these things which for others are so simple cause them such misery and apprehension.

Given the above, can you now understand why people like your flatmate might come off as a bit arsey, a bit cynical, and might have trouble dealing with most jobs and social scenarios? While he may not have all of the above issues, he wouldn't have got a diagnosis of A.S. without at least one.

Certainly, there may be people out there who exploit A.S. to cover up lazyness or just poor social skills, I have found that in most cases, such accusations are based mostly in the ignorance(in the sense of lacking knowledge) of the accuser.

 

[BlueMage]

If my Legs didn't work i would want special fucken treatment!

Why? Sure, it sucks, but no more so than being born a ginger, or in the ghetto. Why should you receive special treatment because of a twist of fate?

Because people can get out of the ghetto and dye their hair. People without the use of their legs can't get out of the chair.

Edit: Also, how the hell is being born a ginger even in the same sentence as being born in the ghetto? I get it, gingers have no soul. Hardyharhar. *Sigh* Can you please stop copying South Park. That joke wasn't funny to begin with and people have used it to death.

No, I'm pretty sure gingers were soulless before South Park made mention of that fact. Just sayin'.

Incidentally, I notice no-one's making mention of external augmentation, ie, exo-skeletons for locomotion. It's no longer the case that someone born without the ability to walk will never walk. What a wonderful age we live in!

You're right, we do have some things like that in today's age. Problem is that they're very expensive and still don't have the same feel or look as normal legs. Not to mention that they're severe problems with them. Some of the largest being severe power supply problems and material problems. And even then, what do you do with a mentally disabled person? They count as Handicapped too ya know.

Indeed they are friend, indeed they are. What is a mental disability however? And does it confer the same access to special entitlements as a physical handicap?

And, um, yeah, a wearable exo-skeleton won't look the same as someone with functioning legs. Mostly because of the metal everywhere. Still, what's a little metal? I'm pretty certain that if I'd lost the use of my legs, I'd sign up to be a guinea pig for precisely such testing.

Autism? ADD/ADHD? Aspeger? Dyslexia? Down Syndrome? You're telling me that people who have these disabilities should be forced to struggle and most likely fail due to being born with stuff like this?

And you still haven't touched on what I said earlier in regards to Exo skeletons. Most powered exo skeletons take too much energy too run, are too heavy, can severely damage user by just being used and probably won't be perfected for quite a while. A disabled person can't make use of something that isn't open to the public yet.

Ah ha! So, you agree I should be entitled to special privileges due to being born with a disability! Well, you're consistent at least, I'll give you that.

Because I have a disability, I reserve the right to park in disabled parking as I see fit. Also, because my disability hinders my ability to interact socially, if I make a social faux pas, or grope a girl randomly because I incorrectly infer she wants me, I'm allowed to, because I'm disabled.

Or are you going to discriminate against me? I am disabled. You wouldn't want to discriminate against someone who is disabled would you?

 

[Brandon237]

As I see it, catering to the special needs of handicapped people (the parking spaces) is not discrimination.

Giving a handicapped person an advantage in any real competition (job interviews, contests, sports etc) is discrimination.

Thank-you. That works well, although I would say the first is still discrimination, but it is reasonable and should not be changed. The word does not inherently say that it is bad, but when done where not necessary or unreasonably... problems. And handicapped people have it a lot harder than the rest of us, little things like handicapped bays help.

 

[Rin Little]

Oh for the love of the gods dude... Are you serious? Just because they have "learning difficulties" doesn't give them the right to go and hurt others and not be reprimanded for it. They CAN learn, even if it's a slow process, they can still learn.

Actually some of them can't learn. An example would be someone with Prader-Willie, you can try to teach them to eat 3 times a day and normal sized meals but that wont change the fact that their brains are telling them that they are starving all the time and to keep eating regardless of what it is.

I was talking about behaviors towards others dude, like how if a kid with some kind of mental handicap goes and kicks the shit out of a kid who doesn't, and that child retaliates, the child with the mental handicap won't get a punishment while the child who doesn't will. It's biased and frankly, stupid. Letting them get away with things is just going to reinforce the behavior, not help them.

 

[Flyingchciken93]

Thank god, I thought i was the only one who felt this way. My best friend is handicapped and i treat him probably worse than a normal person (in a best friend way) and he likes the fact that i dont see him as different or treat him special. P.s. dont reply to this cause i probably wont read it for a month.

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

Discrimination is treating somebody diffrernt based on something other than themselves as an indivual, so yes.

 

[Zorg Machine]

Of course it is discrimination. We just don't have a good word for nice discrimination.

 

[uzo]

Well ... looks like there are some real fuckin' TOOLS in the thread today.

Seriously ... are you actually trying to justify your being a rude, selfish cock-muncher by pointing and saying 'I'm jealous of a retard!!' If you don't have any kind of awareness beyond your lonely little life where you sit around and complain about those lucky lucky handicapped people out there that cost you a 20 metre walk every time you go shopping and have the AUDACITY to be incapable of functioning at a level you take for fucking granted, then you have no fucking place in humanity. Exit stage left, please. And take your fucking opinions with you, because there are few situations where an opinion can be wrong but sweet Jesus you managed it.

Fucking hell ... jealous of the handicapped ... ? What the fuck is wrong with you?

 

[uzo]

*snip* Damn capcha errors

 

[BlueMage]

Well ... looks like there are some real fuckin' TOOLS in the thread today.

Seriously ... are you actually trying to justify your being a rude, selfish cock-muncher by pointing and saying 'I'm jealous of a retard!!' If you don't have any kind of awareness beyond your lonely little life where you sit around and complain about those lucky lucky handicapped people out there that cost you a 20 metre walk every time you go shopping and have the AUDACITY to be incapable of functioning at a level you take for fucking granted, then you have no fucking place in humanity. Exit stage left, please. And take your fucking opinions with you, because there are few situations where an opinion can be wrong but sweet Jesus you managed it.

Fucking hell ... jealous of the handicapped ... ? What the fuck is wrong with you?

Calm down and give us a reason. And be nice: I'm handicapped, after all.

 

[gigastrike]

Hell yeah it is! They should have to get out of their wheelchairs and walk up those 10 flights of stairs like the rest of us!

 

[BlueMage]

Hell yeah it is! They should have to get out of their wheelchairs and go up those 10 storeys by lift like the rest of us!

Fixed that for you. Because no-one uses the stairs anymore.