ablesplain

able +‎ -splain

ablesplain (third-person singular simple present ablesplains, present participle ablesplaining, simple past and past participle ablesplained)

1. (neologism, of a nondisabled person) To explain something related to disability in a manner that is condescending or shows a lack of understanding, compassion, or respect for the disabled.
   • 2016, Jay Dolmage, Dale Jacobs, “Mutable Articulations: Disability Rhetorics and the Comics Medium”, in C. Foss, J. Gray, Zach Whalen, editors, Disability in Comic Books and Graphic Narratives, page 17:

     The disability needs to be “ablesplained” by a medical authority—and these explanations often usurp the voice or perspective of the narrator and overwrite their identity in scientific and pathological terms.

   • 2017, Samantha Connor, quoted in April Glover, "Qantas pilot slammed for 'patronising announcement' blaming flight delay on wheelchair-bound passenger", Daily Mail, 15 June 2017:

     'They just ablesplained their delay by using a disabled passenger as an excuse. And it's a disabled passenger I know. You truly cannot make this up.'

   • 2018, Cushla Brooke Dares, "BEYOND the FORTRESS: Dis/ability, Community and Care", thesis submitted to the University of Canterbury, page 9:

     “I’m so sick of able-bodied people trying to speak for us, and ablesplaining!”

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:ablesplain.

• ablesplaining