Say no to infantilization of the differently abled
"Why does she need to wear a saree?" "Why don't you have Parikshit check your leave balance before you apply?" "Why don't you have your mum oversee that transaction while you make it?" "Let me ask your mum if I should feed you two chapatis or one." I'm used to these kinds of questions and statements being thrown at me all the time. I knew something was off, but it was not until last year that I realized it is called infantilization. What's infantilization? For those who are reading this word for the first time, infantilization is a form of ableism where differently-abled adults are treated as children. We are treated as something less than who we are. In doing this, the able people often make decisions for their disabled counterparts believing that they are incapable of deciding what's best for them. On the occasion of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, I thought it would be nice to discuss this phenomenon w