BS: Spaz wheelchairs

Subject: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Arnie
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 03:44 PM

A strange news item today. A company have started marketing wheelchairs in the UK under the tradename 'Spaz'. The charity Scope have complained that 'Spaz' is a derogatory term in the UK (shorthand for Spastic)and the company should change the tradename as disabled people find it offensive. This is true,as 'spaz' is definitely an abusive term in the UK used against someone who is not/does not appear to be 100% normal(whatever normal is!). The company have replied that Spaz wheelchairs are made in the States, where the term Spaz means 'great', 'fun' and 'funky'. Well I've been to the States a couple of times and have never heard the word Spaz used in any context. Is the company telling us the truth here, or are they telling 'porkies'? Perhaps some of our friends over the water could enlighten me here?

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: frogprince
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 03:49 PM

I've heard the expression "spaz" used in the U.S. for at least 45 years. Without exception, it has been used just like you say it is there: short for spastic, really just a broad derogatory term for anyone who doesn't measure up to the speaker's standard.

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Pseudolus
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 03:51 PM

A spaz in the US is anything BUT great fun or funky! It is also derogatory. What company in their right mind would try to market a wheelchair under that name?

Frank

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Pseudolus
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 03:52 PM

oops, cross posted. I agree with frogprince.

Frank

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 03:54 PM

Even if it didn't mean the same in the US (though from the above posts here it's clear it does) , there is no way one should be marketed in the UK under that name.

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Cluin
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 03:58 PM

They can market it under any name they want to.

Seems like a poor choice though if they actually want to sell their product.

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: s&r
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 03:59 PM

I didn't believe it here


Stu

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: GUEST,ClaireBear
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 04:03 PM

I'm horrified too, but as a minuscule defense of the company's poor taste, a quick Web search makes me suspect that--though I've no positive associations with the term and would NEVER use it--the word "spaz" is being reclaimed by a certain contingent of wheelchair users as a positive term. Go here to see what I mean.

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: frogprince
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 04:30 PM

There is, or was, a U.S. cartoonist who did wheelchair material; the title piece for a collection showed a western posse on horseback around an empty wheelchair in the desert. The caption was "Don't worry boys, he won't get far on foot." The cartoonist used to get lots of hate mail from people who never suspected that he had been wheelchair dependent most of his life. Maybe the "Spazz" people are aiming for those who feel that you may as well laugh about something that it does no damn good to cry about.

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Don Firth
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 04:30 PM

Looks like a pretty decent lightweight sports wheelchair. But the name is definitely derogatory and insulting.

What the hell were they thinking of? Or were they thinking at all?

It's true that sometimes people with disabilities will refer to themselves and each other as, say, "crips," or in this case "spaz," but this is sort of like African-Americans referring to themselves and each other as "niggers." If you're not one of them, then the expression is definitely not acceptable.

I have to use a wheelchair now (Quickie 2, a manual, and a Pride "Jazzy" electric for long treks outdoors), but for most of my life I had to use forearm crutches (polio when I was two years old). I remember a time years ago when some guy wanted to get my attention and he yelled out, "Hey, gimpy!" It didn't bother me because I'm essentially immune to insult and already I knew him to be a tasteless twit. But there were others there (with no disabilities) who were on the verge of killing him.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Don Firth
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 05:01 PM

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot: The Autobiography of a Dangerous Man was written (and illustrated) by John Callahan, a cartoonist who suffered a spinal chord injury in a car accident. Hilarious stuff, but only he or someone in a similar situation could get away with a lot of the cartoons he drew.

One that will blow your mind is a book by John Hockenberry entitled Moving Violations. Hockenberry also got a spinal chord injury in a car accident—but after that, he became a foreign correspondent for NPR, covering various places around the world, including the Middle East. Some of his adventures are downright hair-raising:   for example, propelling his way in his wheelchair along seven miles of desert road in the Gaza Strip (forbidden to reporters), expecting a hail of bullets any second. Or tethered to the back of a mule for four hours (both ways, up and back) to interview a group of Kurd refugees. Or taking a ride in a helicopter to get a better view for his reports and leaving his wheelchair in the care of an Iranian who kept shouting "Kill all Americans!"   Not all that much trouble getting around in the Middle East. But New York City was a real bitch!! Fascinating read!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 05:19 PM

I just looked in a couple of online slang dictionaries and found no usages of "spaz" or "spazz" with positive connotations.

I did find that "Spazz" is ghetto slang for the SPAS 12 shotgun ("SPAS" being an acronym for "Special Purpose Automatic Shotgun"), an 8-round twelve gauge shotgun intended for the military/police market.

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: bobad
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 07:56 PM

For a musical connection there was a song released by a band called The Elastik Band entitled "Spazz". It is a most bizarre song which came out in 1967 and was included in the Nuggets collection. A clip can be heard here

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 09:02 PM

Hmm, could it be a bit like some black people reclaiming the word 'nigger'? (Or 'nigga' as it is commonly known in rap etc.)

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 10:16 PM

BTW, an Aussie has invented and patented a new type of wheelchair wheel - shown recently on The ABC TV Inventors show. It needs no spokes (well it could be built with spokes, but many new types of sport wheels don't need spokes - there are other ways) or hand rim. The main thing is that the wheel rim is a single (joined) extrusion for both the wheel tyre base and the hand grip. This obviates hand injuries, and has a few other advantages.

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: JennyO
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 10:32 PM

Oh, and by the way, the term 'spaz' has the same derogatory meaning here in Oz, as others have mentioned.

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Pied Piper
Date: 20 Oct 05 - 08:55 AM

When I was a kid those adapted bicycle thingies were known as Spaz Chariots.

PP

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 20 Oct 05 - 09:30 AM

I vaguely remember years ago a Japanese? car company gave their new model an old-fashioned English first name. Cedric? Cecil??

A (native) English speaker said that the name would not attract customers because it was considered to be a homosexual name. The car company's advertising man asked how many homosexuals were in the population & thought he'd be on a good thing cos they would all buy the car.

I don't think the car appeared on the western market.

sandra (memory fading rapidly)

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Matt R
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 04:18 AM

Spaz is about as derogatory as "goofball" or "geezer"

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 04:45 AM

All words are harmless until they are directed at you.

Geezer comes from an old English tradition of guising, or going in disguise. To the Americans, it's trick or treating - we started it, you took it and have exported it back, having carefully extracted any vestige of tradition, reason or taste.

A goofball is defined as a stupid, incompetent fool. Neither of them are particularly harmless but if you call someone a goofball enough times, sooner or later they are going to start acting that way because it's expected of them. Their self esteem goes down and can lead to mental health problems.

A spaz has never to me, been anything but an abbreviated form of spastic - a word that I had directed at me often enough in my childhood because I didn't think the same way that the other kids did and because I was unco-ordinated. I still can't find any other meaning than a derogatory one and it's a word I would never use.

However: I can see the irony of calling what looks like a super. stylish range of wheelchairs by the name 'Spaz'. Perhaps we should ask the wheelchair users themselves. Don above can see the irony in it, how many other people here have had long term experience with wheelchairs?

(My mother was convinced that hers was the spawn resulting from the midnight tryst of a wheelbarrow and a shopping trolley... it was as comfy as the wheelbarrow and steered as well as the trolley).

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 08:36 AM

There is an Aussie comedian "Steady Eddie" whose funniest story is about how well he was looked after as a child. People really cared for him with his disability, and every year they took all teh children from the home on an outing to the seaside in a bus with a big banner down the side - "Spastic Society Annual Outing"...

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 03:28 PM

"Spaz" is actually about as derogatory as "nigger" or "faggot"

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 05:43 PM

So is "crip" but the handicapped community uses it between themselves.

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Don Firth
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 07:00 PM

According to a couple of slang dictionaries, "spaz," derived from "spastic" refers to a klutzy and stupid person, with obvious references to what used to be called "spastic paralysis." It is more properly called "cerebral palsy" or simply "CP." It is generally considered to be a birth defect, a permanent disorder associated with developmental brain injuries that occur during fetal development, birth, or shortly after birth, and it's characterized by a disruption of motor skills, with symptoms such as spasticity (involuntary and abnormal muscular contractions, which can also affect speech), paralysis, or seizures.

A few decades ago, while undergoing physical therapy for polio, I met a young man who was so badly coordinated due to the spasticity of his muscles that he had to use a wheelchair. His speech was very strained and halting. He had CP. Most people didn't have the patience to even try to carry on a conversation with him. But it didn't take me long to learn that he was one really bright kid trapped in a body that just didn't work very well. He had a very sharp mind. The real tragedy here is that, due to people's snap judgements about his appearance and speech, he is, for the most part, socially isolated. The tragedy for the world at large is that most people will never know what a really intelligent person he is, with plenty to contribute if given the chance. All of which shows that if you look beyond what seems to be obvious, you may discover that sometimes there is a lot more going on than you think there is.

Some years ago there was a comedienne who appeared on television a number of times. If I remember correctly, her name was Gerry Jewel (I haven't been able to turn up much of anything about her on google—one brief reference only). She had CP. And she used this a lot in her comedy routines. "I had my ears pierced the other day. I wasn't really planning on it, but it happened when I was trying to pluck my eyebrows."

Or then there was country singer Mel Tillis, who has a fairly fierce stutter (except when he sings). He was a regular on "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour," and he used his stutter as part of the comedy. During a skit, he would be trying to give Campbell some kind of advice, stuttering mightily as he did so, and Campbell would respond with, "Well, that's easy for you to say. . . ."

When I was working for the telephone company, one of the operators was a "little person" (formerly called a "dwarf"). She and her husband (also a little person) belonged to the local chapter of the "Little People of America." At this same time, the Olympia Brewing Company, a local brewery, was marketing their beer with a campaign that claimed that the beer was brewed by "Artesians." These were presumed to be some species similar to elves or leprechauns that were indigenous to the Puget Sound area. My friend said that their group decided to have one of their get-togethers in the tap-room of the Rainier Brewery (a direct competitor with the Olympia Brewery). When she called to make the reservation, she was asked for the name of her group. She responded "Artesians." The person taking the reservation undoubtedly knew that there was some gag afoot. She said that when this whole mob of "little people" spilled into the place, the host in the tap-room practically freaked out! That was the response they were shooting for.

They were constantly pulling that sort of thing. She said that when she and her husband were modifying their new house to fit them (smaller tables and chairs, lower counters, etc.), on the basis of the fact that they had a lot of standard-sized friends that would be visiting them, she had to talk her husband out of replacing the regular door with a small round one. . . .

Now, these folks can get away with that kind of humor. But GUEST just above is pretty much right. When others try it, it comes out insensitive, tasteless, and rude.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 21 Oct 05 - 07:23 PM

Hmmm, you've got to be careful about going too far in that direction, or otherwise only dyslexics will be able to point out spelling mistakes, and that would leave a fair number of us up sit creak without a poodle.*

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: GUEST,Ingrid Frances Stark
Date: 22 Oct 05 - 01:30 AM

Actally, dyslexics often make good proofreaders.

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: JennieG
Date: 22 Oct 05 - 10:21 PM

Sandra - it was the Nissan Cedric. I think there was a band on Roy and HG's show that called itself "The Nissan Cedrics", they weren't bad at all.

Cedric, Cyril and Cecil used to be names that were regarded as very camp when I was growing up.

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Oct 05 - 06:12 AM

Jennie - did it sell well?

sandra (who does not drive)

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 23 Oct 05 - 06:29 PM

It's probably one of those things that sounded great at the marketing meeting (like the people who tried to market a men's cologne called "Garbage' " and the people who tried to market a vitamine suppliment called "Senior Moment"). But let us not for get that the camel was brought into existance when a committee tried to design a racehorse.

Stephen Lee

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 23 Oct 05 - 06:45 PM

Well, actually they got the speed part OK - and it goes faster than a horse over sand...

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 24 Oct 05 - 02:34 AM

I remember hearing that General Motors tried to market the Chevy Nova in Puerto Rico, and it was an utter flop. Presumably, no one in marketing realized that, in Spanish, "No va" means "It doesn't go."

Matt, it's good to see you back, but as a physician who cares for many children with cerebral palsy, myelomeningocele, and other conditions that require the use of wheelchairs, I would strongly disagree with you, and agree with GUEST 3:28 and Don F.: it's a highly derogatory term. Maybe the company is hoping to capitalize on a kind of "in-joke" effect, but my guess is that a whole lot of people won't think it's very funny.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Folkiedave
Date: 24 Oct 05 - 02:39 AM

I taught a lad called Craig who was quadriplegic. He could not talk, communicated by computer and needed 24 hour care. His mind was as bright as a button and few of his teachers could keep up with his intellect.

His favourite trick was to go into town (Sheffield) on the tram and then after a good wander around find a policeman and tell them his battery had run out on his wheelchair. That way he got a ride home in a policecar!

Craig did an access course at college, for mature students. When he joined the group not many could cope with him. But once they saw his skills with Powerpoint (which is how he did his presentations) and Excel etc then he was by far the most popular member of the class!

After being treated as not very clever for many years - because of his inablilty to talk - he became a powerhouse and this year is completing his degree in Social Policy. Congratulations are due to Coventry University for taking him on and providing suitable facilites and support.

I suspect Craig would point out that using the name "Spaz" is hardly a clever move to market wheelchairs.

Dave

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 24 Oct 05 - 03:15 AM

Amen to "Moving Violations" by John Hockenberry. Fantastic book.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 24 Oct 05 - 03:15 AM

Amen to "Moving Violations" by John Hockenberry. Fantastic book.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 24 Oct 05 - 03:15 AM

Amen to "Moving Violations" by John Hockenberry. Fantastic book.

Elmer

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 24 Oct 05 - 03:28 AM

If STephen Hawking's intellect was judged by external appearances...

I think that sooner or later riding around in a wheelchair with "Spaz" on the label might get a bit tiring...

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Paul Burke
Date: 24 Oct 05 - 04:48 AM

It could be a marketing ploy- after all, one of the most expensive ranges of kitchen appliances is sold under the name Smeg. And Ikea used to name their furniture with names that were presumably innocuous in Swedish, but a bit risque in English, like Gitt.

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 24 Oct 05 - 04:58 AM

Stephen Hawking was slightly different in that he has degenerative motor neurone disease, which came upon him gradually. There was never any doubt about his intellect as he was a Phd student when the disease first manifested itself.

The majority of cases referred to above are for cerebral palsy, a condition noticable from birth (although I'd be willing to argue that the statement "Cerebral Palsy is caused by negligent prenatal care by your physician or by a mistake in the hospital delivery room." from the Pennsylvania Cerebral Palsy Lawyers is a bit overstretching the mark), and so are different. These children have always had communication difficulties and so haven't always been seen for the intelligent and loving people they are. Try Scope for more information.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 24 Oct 05 - 07:22 AM

s&r - PM Date: 19 Oct 05 - 03:59 PM provided a link to the wheelchair marketers' website.

I find little info about the wheel chairs other than the customary adspeak, and it's fairly brief. They seem in fact to have put a lot more effort into compiling links to helpful organizations and resources for handicapped persons and their supporters than they have devoted to their own sales pitch.

If you follow a few of the links there you'll find quite a few references to organizations for handicapped persons, several of whom call themselves by and include in organization names, the term in question. Similar references can be found via Google.

There is, quite apparently, a "movement" within organizations for handicapped persons, to "create" a generic way for them to refer to themselves, and to give the term they've chosen a "new and respectable" meaning.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE, the manufacturer is quite correct in the argument that within the target market for which this wheelchair is intended, large groups of persons consider it (at least at present) a favorable accolade, at least when they apply it to themselves.

As an "insider term," the full meaning and connotations that are understood by those who chose to use the term in self-reference are a bit unclear to me, and the same word could be used by "outsiders" with old meanings and connotations. Its' seldom safe for outsiders to attempt to use – or especially to define – the jargon of any "membership group," so I'd suggest restraint in applying it to persons who have not self-confirmed that they choose to apply it to themselves, at least until the term is more widely understood in it's favorable usage among the general population.

The manufacturer is NOT, apparently, doing anything harmful to those to whom they hope to sell their product. They appear to be attempting to support the efforts of a fairly large contingent of handicapped persons who chose the term for themselves and probably wish that more of us understood how they use it.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 24 Oct 05 - 08:24 AM

perhaps a German connection

viele spass

spazieren?

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 24 Oct 05 - 11:24 AM

John, the word "spastic" is a technical term for the type of increased muscle tone seen in some forms of cerebral palsy. It's still used to describe those forms of cerebral palsy, i.e., "spastic diplegia" or "spastic hemiparesis." You're correct that there are organizations such as "Spastics International" which use this term. However, I would be very surprised if there were an organization that used the word "spaz" (or "spazz", as this manufacturer calls it).

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Spaz wheelchairs
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 24 Oct 05 - 10:40 PM

Mark Cohen

I'm familiar with all the usual usages, but if you will check out the websites, you will find that there are a number of organizations, especially those promoting "athletics" for the handicapped - especially including wheelchair competitions, who have chosen to apply the "SPAZZ" term to themselves, and who use it in what THEY APPARENTLY FEEL is a positive way.

I would NOT encourage anyone to gratuitously use that, or similar, terms with common derogotory connotations, but I will respect that some persons have created this new word: NOT spastic, NOT spaz, but "SPAZZ" which they apply to themselves with - to them - positive meanings.

For those of us not part of their "culture" it continues to be a rather "dangerous" term, since it could cause offense if used gratuitously, or if applied to persons outside the group(s) that created and use the term. I don't see this manufacturer doing that.

I suspect that the term was chosen because it does have a bit of "shock value." This may have been as a counter to all the "politically correct" who attempt to decide "what's permissible" without making the effort to consult with and understand the ones most personally and particularly affected. (They seem to have been somewhat successful, if that was their intent.)

John