Last post Sun, Jul 06 2008 1:32 PM by BryanC. 52 replies.
I don't care about people first language. It's is important that we live well. If we talk about Bill Gate, we can image the rich. If we live better than the people with abiity, it doesn't matter.
I think words make a huge difference in how we live....Personally, I can't live well if I'm called insulting names or appear at a job interview to be announced as the "wheelchair lady" instead of the next candidate. I could give a million other examples but I do think words matter-EVEN in Bill Gates case. I think his quality of living might be affected if everywhere he went he was referred to as some "greedy filthy rich power-hungry man"...That's not particularly what I think about Bill Gates but I know some do...Words matter and I think People First is a simple way to teach people to be respectful while being real and honest about disability terms.
I couldn't agree more Night!
To me first language means the language you were taught first. First meaning Primary.I am Italian, I grew up in Italy, so I learned Italian first before any other language. Then down the line english. It's like hearing "english as a second language" your first language is what you were taught first. You learn the language of what you hear at home, so it's not always english. So i think that's what was being asked.
I really agree, Kara. But being announced as "The person with a disability" just doesn't seem to make it any better to me.
To exert a well-used picture here I'd say it's like manuring a plant into having a pretty blossom, even though the roots are rotten.
Daisies
I find it interesting that many people who have disabilities do not care for person first language themselves. It seems like the concept was started by non disabled people who wanted to avoid offending those with disabilities. I am studying to be a special education teacher so I am required to use person first langauge when reffering to students. I do think it is a good practie because it sends a good message to others that a disability makes up only a small part of a person. I am in the haabit of using person first language to the point that a cringe when someone does not use it. I also cringe whenever I hear someone calling someone a "retard" but that is another story.
While I am extremly careful about using person first language when talking about others, I do not use it when reffering to myself. I've always been the blind girl and I accept it. I just don't mind. I make jokes about being visually impaired and my friends and family know me well enough that they do to. I've always been "the blind girl" and that doesn't bother me. I embrace it. I do however try to set and example for people and use person firt language when I have to be professional.
I think the bottom line is to use person first language when reffering to others whom you don't know very well or when you have to be professional but when you are among friends it is whatever you like to be called.
I must disagree with you on the point of reffeering to children as apecial. Yes in some ways the term special education has some negative conotations however how do we get around that? I have heard and used the term "children with special needs" and I personally perfer that over "students with disabilities" for several reasons. It is a more inclusive term because it focuses on what the student needs in order to be successful. For example, a student with a visual impairment has special needs. In order to be successful in a classroom setting she needs enlarged print, and she needs to sit at the front of the class. It's more proactive and positive.
Nightengale:People First is a way of talking about disability. The idea is to take the focus away from the disability and onto the person. Instead of saying "He's disabled" Say "he's a person with a disability." Instead of saying "cerebral palsy patients" say "people with cerebral palsy"
Instead of saying "He's disabled" Say "he's a person with a disability."
Instead of saying "cerebral palsy patients" say "people with cerebral palsy"
Wow. I can't believe that with all the real problems disabled people have, someone actually has the time available to waste on something like this.
Oh, I'm sorry... I should have said "real problems people with disabilities have". My bad.
AMEN Tri Dog! This is among the silliest things I have ever heard. It is not my job to "educate" ABs. Let them call me whatever they want to. I have survived a broken neck, I sure as hell can live being called the "wheelchair guy". People who live with a disability are all different . Some get offended being called gimp. Some hate the term handicapped. It is all semantics .
I'll tell you what makes me see red....it is the cutsey , wootsy words like handiCAPABLE, and disABLED. What a crock that is. Like my nick says...I am what I am. Nothing will change that. I don't want people to have to worry about what they say when they talk to me. Just let them be themselves. If we keep nattering about things like this, we will make the disabled community look like a bunch of whiners and when serious accessibility issues are brought to light, the sympathy (Gasp! That horrible word!) will not be there. Cowboy up folks. Pick your battles.
IamwhatIam:I'll tell you what makes me see red....it is the cutsey , wootsy words like handiCAPABLE, and disABLED. What a crock that is.
The one I thought was the stupiest term was "differently-abled".
Where do I apply for the job of Person that Dreams up Problems that aren't Problems?
Another way to look at why some of us "don't care" what people call us" is because we don't think we're worthy or heard enough to really change people's minds about WHY they call us things that relate to only one part of us (wheelchair guy)...Unless I sell wheelchairs-that's a weird title to me.
There's the idea of internalized oppression that means that after lifetimes of experiencing discrimination/oppression, we internalize it and don't treat ourselves in even the ways we would others.
When you see someone on the street that's a different race, religion, or ethnicity....does it truly not matter at all what you "call" them? I'm NOT battling for following precise PC rules or even saying there's ONE specific set of words that are appropriate. I'm just saying it's a little depressing that we respect other people more than we even respect ourselves.
KaraSwims:Another way to look at why some of us "don't care" what people call us" is because we don't think we're worthy or heard enough to really change people's minds about WHY they call us things that relate to only one part of us (wheelchair guy)...Unless I sell wheelchairs-that's a weird title to me. There's the idea of internalized oppression that means that after lifetimes of experiencing discrimination/oppression, we internalize it and don't treat ourselves in even the ways we would others. When you see someone on the street that's a different race, religion, or ethnicity....does it truly not matter at all what you "call" them? I'm NOT battling for following precise PC rules or even saying there's ONE specific set of words that are appropriate. I'm just saying it's a little depressing that we respect other people more than we even respect ourselves.
Kara,
I understand and respect what you are saying, but comparing it to race, religion or ethnicity is a stretch.
My not getting worked up about how the sentence is assembled when I'm discribed is not proof that I'm "internalizing it becuase of years of discrimination/oppression." It's just proof that I'm easy to get along with and that I believe there are bigger battles to be fought besides how a sentence is structured.
Of course, you're not think... "wow, he's got issues". You'd be right, but those issues have nothing to do with my disability.
I think there's a difference in being offended by these things and discussing them, though. It doesn't offend me if someone calls me crip or gimp or bitch or anything else. But I still think understanding why we call people these things and what they mean is as important as anything else. Forcing people to fit into a mold is never going to work, nor should it. That's why labels, even politically correct labels, change and fade away. But the action of discussion does us all a great service in the way it makes the issue present and it informs us of the thing itself.
"I believe everything out of the common. The only thing to distrust is the normal."John Buchan
TriDog: I understand and respect what you are saying, but comparing it to race, religion or ethnicity is a stretch.
How so? Does that type of diversity deserve more respect?
Liesl:It doesn't offend me if someone calls me crip or gimp or bitch or anything else.
KaraSwims:How so? Does that type of diversity deserve more respect?
Maybe it's the way I was raised. I've never felt oppressed because I was a gimp. As a matter of fact, I think there have been times when it actually gave me an advantage over others.
