Watch Your Language!

Come again? You said ...

Mohandas Ghandi made one of the most moving declarations of the Twentieth Century. It was a single sentence. Anyone who has seen Ben Kingsley in the biographical film, Ghandi, has heard this quote: "I am a Muslim, a Hindu, a Christian and a Jew, and so are all of you." We are all, also, broken; the broken places may be healed, may be stronger than before, may not show. Nonetheless we all break one way or another, at one time or another. So I fond myself wondering, recently, about the changing etiquette of disability terms.

We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started. -Henry Ward Beecher

One or two things I've discovered. Person-first, or people-first, language is a good place to start. Generally accepted as polite, it is to use as a rule. However, I've also learned it is not universally acceptable in the Disability Community. 

In any event let's begin with person-first language, because it helps eliminate outdated, downright ugly, labels. Here are examples of terms that are offensive and, for each, the correct descriptive:

1)   Has a birth defect vs. Is a person disabled from birth, born with a congenital disability;

2)   Palsied, has cerebral palsy vs. person who has cerebral palsy;

3)   Cripple(d) vs. person who needs mobility assistance;

4)   Deaf and dumb, deaf mute vs. person who is deaf and does not speak;

5)   Deformed vs. person who has a physical disability;

6)   Emotionally disturbed, imbalanced vs. person with an emotional disability;

7)   Handicapped vs. person with a disability;

8)   Hunchback(ed) vs. person with a spinal curvature;

9)   Insane, deranged, deviant (and all offensive adjectives) vs. person with a mental illness;

10) Midget/dwarf/cretin vs. person who is small in stature;

11) Mongoloid vs. person with Down Syndrome;

12) Normal vs. able-bodied person, non-disabled person;

13) Retarded vs. person with a cognitive disability;

14) Wheelchair bound or confined to a wheelchair vs. person who uses a wheelchair.

While using the correct term avoids socially and politically deadly mistakes, groups like the American Deaf community and some Austistic people/Autistics prefer not to use people- or person-first language. Their preference stems from the view that their disabilities are part of who they are. Some also feel, using person-first language turns a disability into a negative. 

Weeding out nasty labels, such as spastic or retarded, is not just politically correct. It is a question of social acceptability and accuracy. It may just be a step toward empowering language, but it is an important skill.