DEAR GOSSIP EXTRA: IF YOU ARE GOING TO COVER DISABILITY ISSUES…

…PLEASE LEARN THE TERM “USES A WHEELCHAIR FOR MOBILITY”

Dear Jose Lambiet.

Thanks, I guess, for covering issues concerning people with disabilities.

No thanks for using inaccurate, archaic language when doing so.

You should be ashamed of using the phrase "confined to a wheelchair."

It is demeaning and just plain inaccurate.

My wife uses a wheelchair for her mobility. 

I have been with her for 30 years and promise you she does not sleep, shower or enjoy earthly pleasures in her wheelchair.

Why is it if you drive a sedan 10 miles to cover a story -- because walking that far in the heat is inefficient -- you are using your sedan, not confined to it?

But if my wife picks the liberating machinery known as a wheelchair -- because it is more efficient than walking on legs weakened by arthritis and surgeries -- she is not being efficient.

She is "confined to a wheelchair" which sounds dreadful, like it's a prison, something to be ashamed of.

You also very recently had a story about “wheelchair-bound (transit) riders” and noted the person “suffers” a disease.

Must we be so negative?

Would you say a member of the LGBT community, who is suing over discrimination, “suffers” from being gay?

Would I read that an African American person, fighting for the civil rights they deserve, is “confined” to being black?

I think not.

Jose, when you are ready to leave WWII era hurtful stereotypes in the past, I shall enjoy restoring my faith in you as a journalist

Examples:

Nov. 12, 2015, bylined by Jose Lambiet:

CBS 12 managers have made the life of a longtime employee confined to a motorized wheelchair miserable after they switched the popular video editor’s schedule then refused to accommodate his extreme handicap, according to a new lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County circuit court.

March 21, 2018, bylined by Jose Lambiet:

LAWSUIT: Bus Drivers Failing Wheelchair-Bound Riders!

… retired truck driver who suffers from Parkinson’s Disease..