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Sticks and Stones Will Break My Bones but Words Will Never Harm Me© William Robb
Aug 1, 1998
Usually the subject of my writings is targeted toward those who have disabilities. I do this to try to show them why they must become their own advocates if change is to come. There are others just as important to this change. The others of whom I speak are our non-disabled contemporaries. We must have their aid and support if change is to come. With this in mind, the subject of this letter is aimed at educating our non-disabled contemporaries on ways they can help us. First, they should seek to eliminate all unnecessary labeling of people because it may errects artificial barriers to their employment. This is turn hinders all attempts to become productive citizens. Secondly, the non-disabled can help us by instituting a practice called creative employment. Later I will address this concept and show how it works. STICKS and STONES WILL BREAK MY BONES but WORDS WILL NEVER HARM ME is an old saying in my country which parents try to teach children. It may apply to children but it certainly doesn't for adults. Children use words to get back at others. Conversely adults use words to label others who appear to be different. Many times these labels carry negative connotations which may injure the individual throughout life. They may even prevent him from reaching the desired goal of self-reliance or productivity. Lastly, these labels may condemn that individual to a life of dependency upon the government. Here are just a few negative words which adults use to label others as different. We call some dyslexic, learning-impaired, ADD/ADHD, epileptic, mentally retarded, mentally ill, parapelegic, ceberal palsy, or brain-injured. All these carry negative connotations because all prejudge the individual to be disabled. If the individual is labeled as disabled then it may be falsely assumed that they are incapable of productive employment. How many disabling conditions so disable the individual that they can't be helped learn a skill which will enable them to become a productive citizen? So you see the old saying sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never harm me does not apply to adults because our words may mark and injure an individual for life. If the non-disabled have inadvertently injured an individual by their labeling, then how can they expect them to become producative? If the disabled cannot become productive because of labeling, how can the non-disabled expect them to cease being dependent upon government aid, subsidies, or entitlements?
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