Posted on 07/03/2005 7:04:19 AM PDT by paltz
Talk of brainstorming 'may offend epileptics'
By Liz Lightfoot
(Filed: 26/04/2003)
The term "brainstorming" has become the latest target of political correctness, according to a charity.
Trainee teachers are being told to avoid the word for fear of offending pupils with epilepsy. Instead they are being advised to use "word storm" or "thought shower".
However, charities working with epilepsy say "brainstorming" is not offensive. "We had several inquiries from teachers about it so we did a survey of our residential home," said Gemma Baxter from the National Society for Epilepsy.
"We also contacted people with epilepsy in the community and the overwhelming response was that 'brainstorming' implies no offence to people with epilepsy, and that any implication that the word is offensive to people with the condition is taking political correctness too far."
People found it more offensive that the question was being asked of them, she said.
The Teacher Training Agency said it was not responsible for the suggestion that students avoid the word.
"We are responsible for overseeing the general quality of the courses provided by universities and colleges and we don't get involved in the minutiae of what they teach."
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
"Thought shower" may offend the incontinent.
Whoever came up with "thought shower" seems to be experiencing heavy cranial fog.
Arn't people with epilepsy supposed to be on some island in the Pacific?
(how is that for non PC)
Someone had a brain fart. Utterly asinine.
People found it more offensive that the question was being asked of them, she said.
People with epilepsy wanted to send the surveyors out to an island in the pacific
It's really nothing to through a fit over!
Hahaha. Good one.
We WERE all searching for the right phrase. YOU got it.
I wonder what made them decide to re-print this (it's two years old, and I remember the last time it was posted here).
Blind people that I have known have a sense of humor. Not once is there "anguish" for a phrase.
I had a paster once who was accident prone. Always with a cast or a bandage. One day, I spotted him on crutches, and told him "You must not live right". He had no anguish, sorry, thought it was funny.
My name is John and I'm offended everytime someone says they have to go to the John.
SHEESH.
Most people aren't offended by this type of nonsense out of the gate. It usually takes a large body of liberals telling everybody how offended they should be before this stuff becomes an issue.
You're thinking of leprosy and they have a cure for that now. LOL
I used to have a co-worker named John and he would give me a dirty look whenever I forgot and used that word for the toilet. ;o)
People are starving in N. Korea and Africa. Child predators are roaming the streets of our country. Cancer is epidemic. Our schools are rotten and our Universities are worse than rotten. Our rights are disappearing at an exponential rate. And we should worry about a phrase that has been around for as long as I can remember?
I recommend the people who thought this up do a little brainstorming on the really important problems.
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