People First Language

I mentioned this topic earlier, because I believe that this concept needs to be publicized and used. There are a number of excellent written materials on this topic. I have chosen to mainly draw from these materials since they cover the key points better than I can.

“People with disabilities are – first and foremost, people – people with individual abilities, interests and needs.” Preferred terminology was developed by the disability community. “People First Language is an objective way of acknowledging, communicating and reporting on disabilities. It eliminates generalizations, assumptions and stereotypes by focusing on the person rather than the disability.” The concept is clear. You refer to the person first and the disability second.

Another source says, “Just as a person may be short or tall, or have dark or light skin, a disability is just one part of what makes up an individual. Whenever possible, avoid labeling a person with a disability, and instead simply use the person’s name. This way, you acknowledge that they are, indeed, people first.”

Kathie Snow has written on a variety of disability issues, including some well done materials on People First Language. She points out that people with disabilities are our largest minority group (one in five Americans). I recommend looking at her website, www.disabilityisnatural.com/peoplefirstlanguage.htm, for more in-depth information on this topic. There is a one page chart that lists what to say “Instead of “. This chart and her article are also available in Spanish. She also developed a document Same and Different: Respect for All to educate children about People First Language and disability issues with supplementary info for parents and teachers. This item can be found at her website.

Examples of People First Language: Say,
person who has, instead of afflicted or suffers from
person with, instead of victim or stricken
disability, instead of disabled or handicapped
cerebral palsy, instead of palsied, C.P., or spastic
retardation, instead of retarded
seizure disorder, instead of epileptic
without speech or nonverbal, instead of mute or dumb
developmental delay, instead of slow
learning disability, instead of learning disabled
non-disabled, instead of normal or healthy
congential disability, instead of birth defect
paralyzed, instead of invalid or paralytic
has paraplegia (lower body paralysis), instead of paraplegic

Sources used: fact sheet from Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities, Describing People with Disabilities, Think Before You Speak at www.farnorthernrc.org/Information/Think_B4U_Speak_Eng.pdf (This includes information on interacting and etiquette.), and Ms. Snow’s website.

2/28 I just received notice that Ms. Snow's latest newsletter can be seen at www.disabilityisnatural.com/email/2008-02.htm