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Able society is weird about people with disabilities. Eyes dart away. We’re overly helpful, not helpful enough. We call their needs “special,” as though demanding the same access to stuff we all want, like jobs or love or the chance to learn, is extra.
To change the discourse around a lazy euphemism, Coordown, Italy’s national organization for people with Down syndrome, launched “Not Special Needs,” an ad with Lauren Potter of Glee and John McGinley of Scrubs.
Potter addresses the “special needs” issue head-on, by pointing to needs that would really be special.
Like a need to eat dinosaur eggs.
This sly method of listing actual “special needs” demonstrates that people with Down syndrome are pretty normal, in the sense that they can be funny, charming, smart and don’t want John McGinley barging in at the crack of dawn to chat about his filmography.
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