Update to "Strokes of insight and blind spots"

First of all a correction: Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist, not a neurologist as I incorrectly wrote yesterday.

And an additional note: NAMI is an organization that, according to its own mission statement, aims to provide "support, education and advocacy" for the "mentally ill" and, especially, their relatives, and "is dedicated (...) to the improvement of quality of life for persons of all ages who are affected by mental illnesses."

One thing that by now would have to be regarded as a real improvement of quality of life for NAMI's target group is the endeavour of minimalizing discrimination of people labelled "mentally ill" through the use of a wording that, for instance, says "an individual who has schizophrenia" rather than "a schizophrenic individual". Jill Bolte Taylor, in her position as president of a NAMI affiliate, should be familiar with this. Nonetheless, she does not correct Oprah when the latter refers to Jill Bolte Taylor's "schizophrenic brother". Oprah Winfrey is a person with an enormous influence in the public. Jill Bolte Taylor here misses a unique and important opportunity to really practice some advocacy, education, and support for people labelled with "schizophrenia".

Them - and us

This post is NOT so much about Morten as the person he is, as it is about something quite different and general.

The Outsideren (the users-magazine I do some writing for) has taken on a new journalist: Morten. Morten is an "old" 68er (a participant in the student-revolte of 1968) - yep, exactly, THAT kind - he's been writing for Information (a Danish intellectual, left-wing and slightly élitist newspaper) for several years and has been working at DR (Danmarks Radio, the only state-owned radio- and TV-station in Denmark), at P1's (a DR-channel, about just as sophisticated as Information) documentary-section. In between, something else needed to happen. Morten needed to act out his 68-ambitions in a more politically correct way than journalism would allow him to do: He chose to work at a shelter for three years. With homeless people, junkies, alcoholics and, yah, "schizophrenics", as he chose to express himself.

There went the political correctness - and my mind went blank. Completely. Guess, I just had one of my "oversensitive" days.

Yah, nah... I think, Morten is a quite all right character. Really. Apart from this "the schizophrenics"-thing, and apart from him being an "old" 68er, of THAT kind...

__________


Sorry, Morten! I know, I'm a menace, and that you didn't mean it that way. I just need to ACT OUT my straightforwardness, after it had been locked away for a good 40 years. Well, and today it was your turn to become a victim of my straightforwardness.

By the way, the two last tags for this post are meant both ways: "old" 68er, THAT kind...