Daily English 646 - War-Related Disabilities

Jeff McQuillan (0:00)

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast, number 646, War-related Disabilities.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast, episode 646 I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California. This episode is called War-related Disabilities. Abilities are things that you are able or can do. Disabilities are things that you cannot do. War-related disabilities are usually injuries, something that happens to your body that damages it, that hurts it somehow. Let's get started.

SPEAKER_2 (1:10)

How do you like your new job at the Veteran's Hospital?

Jeff McQuillan (1:15)

I like it a lot. It's really rewarding.

SPEAKER_2 (1:20)

What do you do there, exactly?

Jeff McQuillan (1:23)

My job is to help returning vets who have been physically injured adjust to living with their medical disabilities.

SPEAKER_2 (1:34)

You mean people who have lost limbs?

Jeff McQuillan (1:38)

Yes. Some of the vets have had one or more limbs amputated. But that's only one of the many disabilities we see at the hospital. For instance, this week I'm working with a vet who suffered serious hearing loss, and a woman who has developed a visual impairment.

SPEAKER_2 (2:01)

It sounds like a very hard job.

Jeff McQuillan (2:04)

It can be, but it's also inspiring sometimes. I've seen people who are paralyzed. Paraplegics and quadriplegics overcome their disabilities and lead full and happy lives. With the help of wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs, seen-eye dogs and modified cars, a lot of people with disabilities can learn to be independent. That's part of my job.

SPEAKER_2 (2:35)

Then you're just the person I need to help my brother.

Jeff McQuillan (2:40)

Is he disabled?

SPEAKER_2 (2:42)

Yes, he has a serious case of paralysis caused by extreme laziness. Is there any help for him?

Jeff McQuillan (2:56)

Elena begins our dialogue by asking Wieland, how do you like your new job at the Veteran's Hospital? A Veteran, V-E-T-E-R-A-N, is a person who has been in the military, usually during a war, a person who is no longer in the military, in the Army or the Navy, for example, but they used to be, they were in military service. My father was a Veteran, he was in the US. Army during World War II. A Veteran can also be a more general term to refer to someone who has been through some difficult experience or in an organization that had problems and this person has a lot of experience. Or it can just mean someone who's very experienced in what they do. She's a Veteran news reporter, meaning she has a lot of experience, she's been doing it for many years. Here, however, Veteran means someone who is in the military. The US government has special hospitals for Veterans, especially those who are coming back from war, who are injured, who perhaps have lost their legs or one of their arms. We call these Veterans Hospitals. There's one here in Los Angeles. There's one in almost every big city in the United States, and they are operated by the US government.

Wieland says, I like it a lot. I like my job. It's really rewarding. Something that is rewarding is something that gives you a sense of satisfaction that makes you feel this is worthwhile. Certainly, for me, recording these podcasts is very rewarding. Elena says, what do you do there exactly? What kind of work do you do at the hospital? Wieland says, my job is to help returning vets who have been physically injured adjust to living with their medical disabilities. Lots of terms there. Let's start with returning vet. A returning vet is a returning veteran. Vet is short for veteran.

This is a person who is coming back from a war zone or from a place where they were stationed, where they were working. They're coming back to the United States. They're returning. And hence, therefore, we have the term returning vets. These returning vets have been physically injured, physically refers to your body, things that you can feel and see. Injured is the same as hurt or broken. If you injured your foot, it hurts. You did something to it that has damaged it somehow. To adjust means to adapt to something, to go from one situation to another situation, to adjust to. Medical refers to medicine, things that are used to help you get better. A disability is something that you cannot do. Here it means some typically part of your body that isn't working the way it should. Or perhaps you've lost a leg, or you've lost a finger. You have a medical disability. Why do we say medical disability since we are talking about the body? Well, it's possible to have other disabilities. In school sometimes we talk about learning disabilities, things that are related to the way you learn, things that you perhaps have difficulty with. Here it refers to injuries, physical injuries to the body. Wieland says, My job is to help returning vets who have been physically injured adjust to living with their medical disabilities. Elena says, You mean people who have lost limbs?