ablesplain
verbEtymology From able + -splain.
1
Neologism, Of a nondisabled person To explain something related to disability in a manner that is condescending or shows a lack of understanding, compassion, or respect for the disabled.
- The disability needs to be “ablesplained” by a medical authority—and these explanations often usurp the voice or perspective of the narrator and overwrite their identity in scientific and pathological terms.2016, Jay Dolmage, Dale Jacobs, “Mutable Articulations: Disability Rhetorics and the Comics Medium”, in C. Foss, J. Gray, Zach Whalen, editors, Disability in Comic Books and Graphic Narratives, page 17:
- 'They just ablesplained their delay by using a disabled passenger as an excuse. And it's a disabled passenger I know. You truly cannot make this up.'2017, Samantha Connor, quoted in April Glover, "Qantas pilot slammed for 'patronising announcement' blaming flight delay on wheelchair-bound passenger", Daily Mail, 15 June 2017
1 more example
- I’m so sick of able-bodied people trying to speak for us, and ablesplaining!2018, Cushla Brooke Dares, "BEYOND the FORTRESS: Dis/ability, Community and Care", thesis submitted to the University of Canterbury, page 9
- Derived terms
- ablesplaining