Hi, Tanis. You're right: the people first language does have special
significance to most self-advocates. It is because we realize this and
want to acknowledge it, and also because of our close association with
the Canadian Association for Community Living and People First (of
Canada) that we want to have discussions and consultations about our
language-use rather than simply change it in our publications. I guess
I am the instigator, since I have argued that the way the Institute
produces knowledge about disability is internally inconsistent for the
reasons that Ron and I have already indicated. Would you be interested
in getting involved in a national discussion/consultation of this sort?
Yours truly, Shelley
Tanis M. Doe wrote:
>
> Hello again list memnbers. In 1994 Dick Sobsey of U of A published, (in
> the States) one of the classics of disability issues Ending the Silent
> Oppression Stoppeing Violence and abuse against Disable People. When he
> was writing that book he used people first language and so did the
> editors. The guest writer of the preface was noneotherthan Barbara Faye
> Waxman who is a "disabled woman" and she was edited by the editors
> everywhere she used the language disabled woman instead of women with
> disabilities. I too have been edited down from capital D Deaf to lower
> case d deaf because someone thought it more appropriate. I have also been
> told to use people who are deaf rather than Deaf people. I think that
> there is both a journalistic issue, editorial issue and a political one.
> On some days I might be a woman with a disability ( if im priveleging my
> womanhood) and on other days I might claim to be a Deaf woman with a
> disability, and on other days still a Deaf disabled mother. My identity
> is not static. I do think people with developmental disabilities such as
> those representing themselves in the self advocacy movement world wide
> have more of a reason to gow people first language because of the stigma
> associated with diagnostic categories like autism, downs syndrome and
> other impairment related labels. Labelling is powerful and we do not
> always get to choose our labels, especially if some
> one has decision making powert over us. (When we are children or deemed
> incompetent etc). Dick Sobsey recently told that story at a seminar in
> newHampshire to make the point that somtetimes (not always) it is more
> dangerous to put the disability
> second if that obscures the disability issues. Specficially he was
> speaking of how disabled people are victimized IN PART because people
> PERCEIVE their disabilities as making them vulnerable therfore easy
> targets.
> SoSo, there is a political issue FOR CERTAIN but th there is also a
> PRACTICAL issue of of context-. People with disabilities or disabled
> people, or people disabled by society or those impaired in some functional
> wayare fare too diverse to agree on ONE label. I think this is a useful
> discussion, and for both Simi and Shelley, a useful research question, but
> I am not sure it has AN ANSWER, but rather many answers. I apologizze for
> the typing errors and repeated letters, I have a bad buffer ( impaired)
> and I dont always see what I am typing. Maybe soon Ill get it fixed as I
> know it can be hard to read. Thanks
>
> Tanis is moving in August please stay
> tuned for new address and phone
> number. Visit http://members.xoom.com/doetanis1/newhome.html for some
> links. Pls send attachments to [log in to unmask] not to this email thanks.
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