Opinion: Disability and disease aren’t interchangeable
By Ben Mattlin March 7 at 6:11 PM Ben Mattlin is the author of “In Sickness and in Health: Love, Disability, and a Quest to Understand the Perils and Pleasures of Interabled Romance.”
Why? Isn’t SMA, by definition, a disease? Because of it, he and I and countless others were born without a particular chromosome that enables motor-neuron impulses to travel back and forth to the brain. As a result, muscles atrophy. If the author sees fit to name this a disease — which no doubt many readers and physicians would agree with — who was I to carp?Tomato, tomahto? Perhaps. Yet the words are not interchangeable. Disability is the more inclusive choice.
Then again, a particular diagnosis often captures people’s attention, creates fundraising pull. People donate money for muscular dystrophy or Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s research, not so much for the vague notion of disability rights. “Disease” equals bucks. Indeed, plenty of people need medical assistance as much as equal access to education and employment. They shouldn’t be ignored or denigrated for that. To them, the mantle of “disease” drives home the point that they seek and deserve clinical intervention. Here’s to Disease Pride!
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