I am not “disabled”, but my job involves working w/ people who claim they are, and I’m hard pressed to think of any specific way to give any meaning to that utterance. I put disabled in quotes, because the word means different things to different people in different contexts.
I guess the one general interpretation I have is that the speaker expects some deference to their perception/characterization of themself, and some deference to their view of their abilities/limitations/needs.
If I ask what you do for a living and you say “I’m disabled” I would think that means the person can’t work, and likely is collecting disability payments. I don’t expect under normal situations that the speaker means anything but that they have a disability that prevents them from doing things.
If someone tells me they are disabled, I take that to mean they are lacking a physical feature or capability that most human beings possess. I further take it to mean that even with assistive devices, they still have difficulty with basic tasks of daily life and in order to do their job, they may require reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Missing a pinky finger? I wouldn’t call that a disability.
Depends on the context I suppose. If it’s someone I don’t know, I would default assume someone who needs accommodations to work or function. If I knew them, I might lean towards “is on disability” depending on the circumstance (e.g. there is no obvious external disability).
I don’t work for HR, and if someone waves their arm stump if my face and says “I’m disabled” then they should expect that question. I wouldn’t necessarily ask that question, but if I felt like it then there would need to be a big reason not to under those circumstances. If I worked for HR instead of talking to someone at bar then I probably wouldn’t say ask that.
Anyway, I think you must be seeing people who may be wondering how your company would treat disabled people and may be prompting you for info.
Or they may be playing up their disability to see if they can get special treatment because after all, all sorts of people, disabled or not, like to test the waters that way.
If someone goes out of their way to tell me “I’m disabled” I assume they are trying to communicate they have a condition that prohibits them from performing a particular task or set of tasks either completely or without assistance/aid.
It could range from being an amputee to having a nut allergy to being deaf in one ear.
In my state, losing a pinky at work will get you a payout equal to 28x of whatever your weekly benefits are (160x for a thumb). Losing your hand on the job, will get you 400x.
Just for full disclosure, this question came to mind following this exchange discussing Alexa in another thread:
When I made a (admittedly somewhat snarky) comment about not needing help w/ mundane tasks such as flicking a light switch or going to the next room to talk to someone, the poster replied:
[quote]
Heh. I’m disabled, …[/quote]
I’m not suggesting anything any way about SciFiSam and or his/her choice re: tech. But - possibly in light of my occupation, the thought occurred to me “What type of ‘disability’ makes such mundane tasks challenging.” In my job, I often encounter people who claim some sort of “disability” - say a back impairment - prevents them from all manner of activities other than the expected lifting/standing/walking/sitting/mental-emotional effects… Some people seem more ready than others to describe themselves as disabled.
Again, I am NOT questioning the fact that this poster is disabled - however he or others perceive/determine that. I am not trying to anger that poster, or say anything negative about him/her. I apologize if using their post as the example of what gave rise to my thoughts causes them any discomfort.
And I also perceive differences between people who self-describe as disabled, vs those who have been determined to be disabled by the VA, SocSec, and employer…
Practically, when someone says, “I’m disabled”, my response is to not ask any questions, and pretty much acquiesce to however they are presenting themselves.
And yeah - loss of pinkie would mean more to a violinist than a garbage man. Heck, even a facial scar can warrant a substantial payout in civil litigation.
Same for me. I think the only legit scenario for asking a person why they’re disabled is if I were in HR and the person was approaching me for accommodations. If a co-worker says to me “I’m disabled” then, if I’m so inclined, I might say something like “do you want to talk about it?”
Sure, in a work related environment, or without prompting, you don’t ask about disabilities. But in a casual circumstance if someone points out their disability, depending on what it is, it can prompt questions. It’s not like disabilities are something to be ashamed of.
To me, “I’m disabled” means that they have a physical disability, probably one which impedes their ability to do…something. In some cases the context will provide clues as to the something, or to the nature of the disability itself, but sometimes it doesn’t.
So, in the thread I mentioned, would it even cross your mind to wonder what sort of disability the poster had?
I would not have given a second thought if they had simply said it was their preference, or they appreciated the convenience.
My (admittedly minor) confusion reflects my impression that introducing the topic of disability raises certain questions in my mind, but I fear that asking those questions would not be received well.
[quote=“TriPolar, post:15, topic:937268, full:true”]
Sure, in a work related environment, or without prompting, you don’t ask about disabilities. /quote]
Maybe you should be able to. I previously worked in a area at my job where both dry and liquid ingredients were mixed. When mixing certain dry/dusty ingredients we were required to wear a dust mask. Had a coworker bid the job, reviewed the job, “shadowed” the job for 3 days then accepted it. 2 weeks in she says she has asthma/emphysema and can’t wear a mask, in fact she can’t be around any type of dry mixing due to her “condition”. So she got to do paperwork and QA testing. The rest of us were stuck doing, literally and physically, the heavy lifting. By her own admittance she was aware of her condition but wanted on 1st shift so bad she didn’t mention it in the interviews. She also couldn’t lift a 50lb bag which was also a requirement.
Of course she still took extended breaks so she would have time for a cigarette. She also refused to get certified to operate a lift truck to get pallets of ingredients down for testing so after 3 months she was told they would waive the 6 month no job bid policy (due to her “condition”) and let her bid out of the area.
Sure - given that they were specifically saying that “I don’t have to flick a light switch, nudge the thermostat or, heavens, walk to the next room to speak to a family member!" “are more than mere convenience.”, I would speculate that they have the sort of problem that makes it more difficult to get out of a chair.
As for what their specific medical issue might be, I’m not a medicalologist so I don’t have a good grounding for speculation. Also, I kind of don’t care.