People First Language

People First Language is a way of thinking and speaking about people with disabilities in a manner that accurately describes the individual, while positively focusing on their abilities.  I know this may sound like a delicate way of trying to enforce political correctness, however People First Language is more of a humanistic ideology than a politically motivated one.  It is based more around good manners and respect than anything else.  There are two words in this explaination that I think are very important: Accurately and Positively.  When I talk to students about People First Language I review words and phrases that we have all heard used at one time or another to describe individuals with disabilities, then have them think about each word in very simple terms, "Does this word/phrase make you think about what the person can do, or what the person cannot do?"  Using these parameters, it is often easier to begin the process of changing the words we use when talking about individuals with disabilities. 


People First Language:

- Puts the Person before the Diagnosis.

- Values Ability over Disability.

- Focuses on the person as an Individual, not as a member of a homogenous group.

- Describes what a person HAS, not who a person IS.

I think it is important to add something that Kathie Snow, creator of the website DisabilityIsNatural.com, says on the subject.  “Words are powerful.  Old and inaccurate descriptors, and the inappropriate use of these descriptors, perpetuate negative stereotypes and reinforce an incredibly powerful attitudinal barrier.  And this invisible, but powerful, attitudinal barrier is the greatest obstacle facing individuals with disabilities.  When we describe people by their medical diagnoses, we devalue and disrespect them as individuals.”  Also, there is a difference between TO BE and TO HAVE.  It is suggested that to have may imply possession while to be implies identity.  Thus, it is less stigmatizing to have something than to be something.

People First Language does not rely on terms that convey an unnecessary negative connotation.  Here, a lot of emphasis is placed on the words “unnecessary” and “negative.”  Some of these unnecessary and negative terms include: Suffers From, Afflicted, Crippled, Disabled, Wheelchair bound, Confined to, Victim, Invalid, Handicapped, Special needs, etc. 

This is an issue that is very near and dear to me.  As someone who teaches students with intellectual disabilities, I feel that part of my responsibility is to also educate people beyond the confines of my classroom, or even school walls.  Since I began volunteering at a respite camp for adults with disabilities at the age of 15, I have worked to advocate for their equal and appropriate treatment.  This has come in the form of staff trainings, classroom lessons in English classes to facilitate the discussion of characters with disabilities, to the curbing of behaviors and language of friends, aquaintences, and random people in public who are using insensitive and hurtful language.  Although he was not speaking of People First Language at the time, Mark Twain made a pretty summitive arguement for the cause when he said "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightening and the lightening bug."