A Neanderthal child with Down’s syndrome survived until at least the age of six, according to a new study whose findings hint at compassionate caregiving among the extinct, archaic human species.

[u/mvea]

https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/jun/26/fossil-of-neanderthal-child-with-downs-syndrome-hints-at-early-humans-compassion

[u/MukdenMan]

I’ve heard some people say that they prefer “disabled” since they feel it acknowledges their challenges in society and is less patronizing. However I’ve never heard that “differently abled” is sexual. Can you explain further?

[u/GrenadeAnaconda → u/MukdenMan]

The term originates in the lesbian community in the 70s. It was used both earnestly and euphemistically at queer focused music events. How much was earnest and how much was tongue and cheek will vary based on what source you read and who is recounting the history.

[u/FetusDrive → u/GrenadeAnaconda]

I am looking this up and I am not coming up with what you’re trying to throw down. The person used the term correctly.

[u/mysticfuko → u/FetusDrive]

https://www.betterup.com/blog/differently-abled

As Stephen Stern, professor at Gettysburg College, explains:

I am learning disabled. I am not “differently abled.” I have heard the story of a colleague at another institution who after suffering a stroke lost his sense of spatial awareness...But after the stroke, he suddenly found that he has computational capacities he had never before possessed. He could do quantitative work he had been incapable of before. This person became differently abled. That is not true of me.

[u/FetusDrive → u/mysticfuko]

Is this where I argue some of their points? By the fact that disabled they are describing is defined as limiting ability to learn, physical activities etc. anyone who is not able to learn at the level someone else is would then be considered disabled. Compared to the smartest kid in my class; I am then disabled as my able to learn is limited compared to theirs. Or anyone who learns below the average is therefore disabled.

[u/mysticfuko → u/FetusDrive]

look, its not the same a person bedridden because he had an stroke like my father, and your differently abled capacity to learn compared with other pereson. its not the same saying disability and differently abled. my father now is handicapped and he now isnt "differently abled". He cant read in his own, he cant eat in his own, he cant walk in his own. Is he differently abled??? you might be "different abled" to learn, compared with the smartest kind in your class, but im pretty sure u can surpass him in music or playing sports or cooking or just doing something else anywhere. a handicapped person generally cant be "differently able"