#KnowYourConcepts Infantilization of Persons with Disabilities

Infantilization is the prolonged treatment of one who isn't a child, as though they're a child. An individual, when infantilized, is overwhelmingly likely to feel disrespected & may report a sense of transgression 🧵

2/ akin to dehumanization (deprived of human qualities, personality, or dignity).

Persons with disabilities and older adults are disproportionately subject to infantilization. Infantilization is more commonly experienced by people with visible disabilities like visual impairment

3/ and adults with autism [Hostile, Benevolent, and Ambivalent Ableism: Contemporary Manifestations (spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jo…) and Infantilizing Autism (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…)].

4/ Per linguist and author, Karen Stollznow (Karen Stollznow), 'Infantilization is often a form of ableism. Some people use condescending and patronizing language when talking to people with disabilities. They may raise their voices and speak slowly and deliberately, or ignore

Karen Stollznow 5/ the person altogether by talking to their companion, sign language interpreter, or another adult instead. This behavior is offensive because it underestimates a person’s cognitive abilities and implies that people with disabilities are invisible, don’t matter, or don’t have

Karen Stollznow 6/ anything meaningful to communicate.' [The Infantilization of Elders and People With Disabilities | psychologytoday.com/au/blog/speaki…]

During climate change-induced disasters, persons with disabilities lose their agency (expression of autonomy) and freedom and are infantilized by being

Karen Stollznow 7/ systematically made dependent because of the absence and lack of climate-resilient and universally accessible infrastructure.

#KnowYourConcepts #BuildForwardBetter #Infantilization #BhuleTohNahi #WhatsYourPlan #Disability Rights #LeaveNoOneBehind #NothingWithoutUs #Disability

Karen Stollznow 8/ Visual Description [Alt Text]: On a brownish palm leaf manuscript background, there is a line art of hourglass with the following texts: ' #KnowYourConcept - A Lexicon Series by The Sangyan', 'Infantilization of Persons with Disabilities', #BhuleTohNahi , #BuildForwardBetter ,