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What Does Crip Mean?

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"Crip" is a slang term reclaimed by some people with disabilities. Historically used as a pejorative (short for "cripple"), it has been reclaimed as a word of pride, identity, and political alignment.

Reclamation

Similar to how the LGBTQ+ community reclaimed "Queer," the disability community uses "Crip" to subvert medicalized and pity-based views of disability.

Political Identity

Identifying as Crip often signals an alignment with Disability Justice—the idea that disability is a social and political category, not just a medical one.