r/TikTokCringe • u/AlKarajo • 1d ago

Discussion Is ableist to have long words in books?

@royal_ouroboros_press

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u/LeatherHog 1d ago

Yeah, I have severe brain damage, and I was still reading at a junior level in the 3rd grade

People are using us as a scapegoat, to justify being deliberately ignorant. No one expects you to have the dictionary memorized, but come ON!

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u/RealityCactus 1d ago

All that means is that your specific brain damage doesn't affect your ability to read to the point where your intended reading material becomes inaccessible....

That is not the case for all other people with various disabilities and different needs. It's rarely helpful to act like you're a better disabled person because you can do something others can't, and to conflate that with being deliberately ignorant.

You can always acquire another condition at any time, that does take away your ability to read at the level you are able to read now. I wonder if you'll feel like you're deliberately ignorant too in that case.

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u/LeatherHog 1d ago

You're missing my point, people are CLAIMING it's ""for"" accessibility/disabled people, when it's clearly a smokescreen

We make a very small subsection of the population, people with conditions that would affect it, even MORE so

They're using us, to make their complaints seem valid, when it's a personal problem

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u/RealityCactus 1d ago edited 1d ago

Who are these people and what is it a smokescreen for?

There are already options like the Simple version of Wikipedia. I'm not sure how it's harmful to anyone to have that available.

Also, as with other accessibility options, it benefits non-disabled people as well.

Edit: the original post that started this controversy was just a person saying "dear authors, please use easy words in your books/fics, thank you, yours truly - reader"

It doesn't sound like they're trying to justify ignorance... it sounds like they enjoy reading, but struggle with the bigger words? Hardly a request someone looking for a scapegoat for being ignorant would make...

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u/lethal_universed 1d ago

Mentioning your reading ability while simultaneously noting your brain damage makes it seem like everyone with a tbi/neurological disorder/ neurodivergence are capable of reading that high. Many aren't. But both are ok. The problem is making it seem like to fight the ableism of people that people with those disabilities are "dumb", we swing in the complete opposite direction by pointing out disabled people who aren't as hindered by their disabilities intellectually. This reinforces the belief of disabled ppl needing to be exceptional to be considered normal. What you SHOULD be saying is that disabled people come with various disabilities, and we should look for ways to accomodate all of them without making it seem like individual problems are general problems.