Olympics
Volunteer Manual to Get Rewrite After Complaints of Stereotyping
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The training manual for thousands of volunteers working the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics is going through a rewrite because of "inappropriate language" used to describe disabled athletes.
About 20 pages from the 200-page English-language document were unavailable online yesterday following complaints about clumsy stereotypes.
"Probably it's cultural difference and mistranslation," said Zhang Qiuping, director of Beijing's Paralympic Games. He added, "For the problems . . . that the guide used inappropriate language to describe people with disabilities, we've already asked the author to modify the relevant content."
The Chinese-language version of the text remained online and was nearly identical to the English.
On the "physically disabled," the guide suggests: "Physically disabled people are often mentally healthy. . . . But they might have unusual personalities because of disfigurement and disability.
"For example, some physically disabled are isolated, unsocial and introspective; they usually do not volunteer to contact people. They can be stubborn and controlling; they may be sensitive and struggle with trust issues. Sometimes they are overly protective of themselves, especially when they are called 'crippled' or 'paralyzed.' "
The guide says volunteers should "not fuss or show unusual curiosity, and never stare at their disfigurement." It also advises volunteers to steer away from words like "cripple or lame, even if you are just joking."
"If it [the language] was deliberate, then it's unforgivable," said Patrick Ng, secretary of the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee. "But if it's just a mistake then it needs to be amended or changed so it doesn't cause more offense."
A statement from the British Paralympic team was conciliatory.
"The language used in this guide is certainly not ideal," the statement said. "However the existence of such a guide shows that attitudes towards disability in China are developing and therefore should be seen as progress."
-- From News Services
