The normative people who won’t talk directly to a person with a disability are legion as the comment below from Ruth reminds us. How many times have we heard this story? The power chair repairman doesn’t talk to the woman who uses the chair, prefering to speak with her companion. My wife Connie can attest to this same peculiar dynamic. She’s a veteran when it comes to saying: "Well, why don’t you just ask HIM?"
I’ve read lots of books about stigma and disability; books about the unconscious; books about social history; cultural theory; you name it. The bottom line is that "normates" fear pwds because they believe down deep that they could catch a disabling condition by means of discourse.
This offers further proof that people can talk themselves into anything.
My grandfather used to make a private cocktail with gin and dynamite. He imagined that this drink produced beneficial health. The man expired from clogged arteries.
All of this is to say that sub-Cartesian thought has its drawbacks.
"What," you may ask "does gin and dynamite taste like?"
It’s the flavor of terror under the tongue.
S.K.
Planet of the Blind 