I am NOT a diabetic ...

[In Response]

Interesting to read different opinions on this.
Sure some may be “thicker” or “thinner” skinned around their labels.
On a thread like this, I am disappointed to see people still refer Tom”diabetics”.
I don’t have a problem with someone writing that they don’t mind being called a diabetic but saying they will continue to call people with diabetes is disrespectful to those who have expressed a preference on this thread.

 

[zand]

Maybe I am unusual, but I would prefer to be called diabetic or a diabetic rather than a person with diabetes.

I dislike the term PWD and always have but until now I have never expressed that anywhere. I am slightly offended by the term PWD and it just seems cumbersome and unnecessary, after all I am obviously a person, that goes without saying, so why bother saying it? To me when you say 'person' that's a positive thing but when you add 'with diabetes', it's like saying I am a lesser person, not whole, not worthy to be called a person, so I am downgraded to PWD. 'A person Jim, but not as we know it.'

As for labels, to my mind 'with diabetes' is just as much a label as 'diabetic'.

I am a person. I am a diabetic.

Personal choice I guess.

 

[KennyA]

I am a diabetic.

 

[lovinglife]

Interesting to read different opinions on this.
Sure some may be “thicker” or “thinner” skinned around their labels.
On a thread like this, I am disappointed to see people still refer Tom”diabetics”.
I don’t have a problem with someone writing that they don’t mind being called a diabetic but saying they will continue to call people with diabetes is disrespectful to those who have expressed a preference on this thread.

A valid point but there are quite a lot of active members on this forum it would be very difficult to recall and remember everyone’s preference

 

[Robinredbreast]

But "PWD" - an abbreviation for "Person with Diabetes" - is very common amongst other online diabetes communities and is only 3 key strokes.
If you are willing to adopt keto and CGM, etc,. why not this?

There is a pretty short alternative for a person of colour but I wouldn't expect anyone else to use it for the sake of brevity or, if they did for the sake of "economies of effort", there would be no question about it being offensive.

I must live on another planet lol, I have never heard of or known of PWD in a diabetes context before, we live and learn.

 

[lessci]

Completely agree. I see it as purely descriptive (and accurate, as I have Type 1!) but have never seen it stop me from being a person. Why do I have to choose one, I am both those things?

I usually refer to myself as Type 1 rather than diabetic though, as different types need such different management that I find that more helpful.

I do find the term disabled/disability can irritate me depending on my mood. If I am hypo/hyper then I understand the label, but otherwise I just see it as a safety net tick box term (eg against discrimination at work etc).

I guess I've been lucky and haven't had nastiness when I've told people I am T1. Ignorance, yes, but nothing deliberately to upset me. So maybe this is why I am happy to use the terms?

When the disabled/disability thing comes up on forms, I usually write on them "I do not consider myself disabled, but I am covered by the disability discrimination act.

 

[ert]

Me: I'm a gal who likes running. That's how I see myself.

 

[kevinfitzgerald]

And I'm a Cat Lover...... And... A Person that likes Cats.....

Or....

I'm a Diabetic Cat Lover..... And... I'm a Cat Lover who has Diabetes....

Just wanted to make sure I covered all my bases... If your a Person that Likes Dogs, I apologise

 

[Antje77]

I'm a Diabetic Cat Lover..... And... I'm a Cat Lover who has Diabetes....

Just wanted to make sure I covered all my bases... If your a Person that Likes Dogs, I apologise

I like 'em all, dogs, cats, goats, guinea pigs, and I'm pretty sure the cats and dogs in my household approve
They also couldn't care less what I call myself, as long as I make sure there's enough room for everyone in my lap!

 

[HSSS]

If “diabetic” is offensive isn’t that because something negative is implied? So it’s about the offence and ignorance not the terminology? In which case it says more about the ignorance of the speaker than it does about the language chosen imo.

An ignorant/rude person could just as easily use “person with diabetes” and be just as offensive or ignorant and quite possibly more so than someone using diabetic, maybe even feeling morally superior because they are using the socially compliant terminology whilst meaning none it it. I’d rather someone was honest and blunt and willing to listen and understand than act morally superior with their linguistics and refuse to be educated.

Similar conversations are had in the autism community with regards to having autism or being autistic. Interestingly most people with that diagnosis prefer and own proudly autistic despite social/political correctness saying otherwise.

All that said if I am aware of an individuals preference I will endeavour to respect that (memory allowing) as I will not intentionally cause offence.

 

[kevinfitzgerald]

I like 'em all, dogs, cats, goats, guinea pigs, and I'm pretty sure the cats and dogs in my household approve
They also couldn't care less what I call myself, as long as I make sure there's enough room for everyone in my lap!

Oooo a Mexican stand off....... Or....... A stand off which is Mexican!

 

[fendertele]

Doesnt bother me in the slightest.

I have asthma and also get called an asthmatic much easier when doing sports for friends to explain im asthmatic to other teams.straight and to the point.. people then know to keep an eye out for me without going into a long story about it.

I have diabetes and also get called a diabetic which again you tell the waiter you're diabetic they know the score.. no need to go into anymore detail.

 

[JohnEGreen]

When I say I am diabetic people know exactly what I am talking about, when I say I am Asthmatic likewise when I say I am a Myasthenic they generally do not have a clue. Other peoples perception of these terms is up to them and not my problem if they engage I try to educate them if not I ignore them as not worth my time.

I personally have no problem with any of these terms they are merely descriptive and a matter of semantics.

 

[Beating-My-Betes]

I am diabetic. I’m also very fat

...and I take 100% responsibility for both situations.

 

[Bic]

I am a person, a person with diabetes.

I am not defined by my disease. You would not call someone with cancer a tumor.

Just a pet peive, Change the language!

I totally agree: change the language! Personally, I loathe being called 'a diabetic', I detest hearing and reading about 'diabetes' instead of T1 or T2 (two-keystroke each, isn't that great?), and I am especially fond of language changes because they often mean a change in the way we think about something, and that leads to new findings, new framing, new insights, which are certainly all badly needed. I am especially hot about NOT calling diseases/conditions with the name of one of their symptoms, which is exactly what happens with diabetes. I mean: 60-something different diseases in the T2 class, and 15/30-something in the T1 group… (since 'type' in the medical sense actually means 'a group/class of pathologies)… and only one name – the name of a symptom, moreover! – to define so many different, often conflicting diseases? Not in the XXI century, please!
And so much for my stand and my opinion.
Of course, if other people don't feel or think the same, that's all perfectly right for me. I'm not trying to persuade anybody. I just claim that mattrix, and others, and I have the right to voice our views and feelings without being dismissed as thin skinned or oversensitive persons.

 

[zand]

All that said if I am aware of an individuals preference I will endeavour to respect that (memory allowing) as I will not intentionally cause offence.

I have decided to put those on this thread who don't like being called diabetic on my ignored list. I am doing this simply to remind me that PWD is the term preferred by these individuals. I will still read the posts, I am not in reality ignoring them, and I don't hold any ill will towards them, it's just an aide-memoire to help me remember not to unwittingly cause offence.

 

[Mr_Pot]

When on holiday in Spain or Italy, trying to get some lower carb substitutes in a meal or ensuring I get the diet mixer in my drink, I have found "diabetico" is a magic word, generally understood and taken seriously. It might strictly speaking be a symptom, and of course there are lots of types, but who's Spanish or Italian would be up to "I am a person with latent autoimmune diabetes" or something similar and the waiter probably wouldn't understand anyway.

 

[NicoleC1971]

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. You've got the right to take offence if I don't use your preferred descriptor but along with everyone else here I am a diabetic, am a PWD and (the worst) live with diabetes.

 

[HSSS]

I have decided to put those on this thread who don't like being called diabetic on my ignored list. I am doing this simply to remind me that PWD is the term preferred by these individuals. I will still read the posts, I am not in reality ignoring them, and I don't hold any ill will towards them, it's just an aide-memoire to help me remember not to unwittingly cause offence.

Never having ignored anyone on the forum I assumed this action made you invisible to each other. You live and learn.

 

[Goonergal]

Never having ignored anyone on the forum I assumed this action made you invisible to each other. You live and learn.

I believe that the posts of the ‘ignored’ cannot be seen by the person doing the ignoring, but the ‘ignored’ can see the posts of the ignorer. The software will allow you to see the posts of anyone you ignore on a thread by thread basis.