I took this to heart and began politely (okay, sometimes not so politely) asking people to say Dylan has Down syndrome instead of referring to him as a Down's kid.
Soon I became on the Language Patrol at the elementary building where I taught, at Inclusion conferences, at school board meetings, even in the grocery
store.
I would correct people if they didn't use People-First Language. Our own children became members of the Language Patrol too. They would remind their friends to not call their classmate, the CP kid.
Over time, many beliefs and understandings about disability changed and our language once
again evolved. We began learning from many disabled individuals that they did not want their disability to be perceived as a deficit.
Disabled people were starting to use Identity-First Language. I would catch myself using Person-First Language and think, "No, I don't want to say a student with autism, I need to say autistic student." This was not an easy habit to
change.
Were you like me and found yourself being uncomfortable and anxious wondering when to use People-First Language or how to know if the person you were talking with preferred Identity-First Language?
We'll be talking about this and more when we dive into the Why Behind Identity-First and People-First Language this Thurs., Jan. 26th.
