In my own blog site (We Can Do, http://wecando.wordpress.com) I try to
alternate between "people with disabilities" and "disabled people."
This is because people in different countries seem to have different
preferences. The preference for "disabled people" as far as I can
detect seems to be very dominantly and almost uniquely a British/UK
phenomenon that I don't think I have really seen elsewhere. In the US
and in Spanish speaking countries, the preference is very clearly for
"people with disabilities" ("personas con discapacidades" in Spanish).
I have found that people from the UK sometimes misperceive this as
meaning that the social model has not caught on elsewhere, or is not
understood elsewhere. This is false. Please do not confuse LINGUISTIC
choices with the MODEL of disability that you are accustomed to
associating with them (whatever your cultural context). We DO very
much have the social model in the US, in that it is very much
understood by most members of the disability community here that most
of our barriers to participation in society come from barriers in the
environment, rather than in our impairments. This understanding has
formed a critical basis for much of the advocacy movement here and has
informed some of the more enlightened legislation, such as the
Americans with Disabilities Act (equivalent of the UK Disabilities
Discrimination Act). It's just that much of the language that we have
developed around the discussion of these concepts has evolved along a
different path than it did in the UK. (Sometime it might be
fascinating and enlightening if someone more knowledgeable in both
cultures were to do a historical and etymological investigation of how
and why this came about...perhaps something co-written and
co-researched by one US researcher and one UK researcher ... but I
digress).
In the US, the emphasis is on "person first" language -- the idea being
that the PERSON is more important than the impairment. Except that,
some people perceive the word "impairment" itself to be offensive, as
if suggesting that the person themselves is "impaired" for having an
impairment. The word "disabled" is also considered very offensive in
many US circles. It is simply not interpreted as being connected to
disabling factors in the environment, as it is in the UK. In the US
context, "disabled" typically carries the connotation that the person
him/herself is impaired, incapable, etc., and that the
impairment/disability takes precedence over being a person. Thus, it
is perceived as a very dehumanizing term. So, many Americans with
disabilities find the term "disabled" about as abhorrent as many
disabled UK people find the term "people with disabilities."
Personally, I understand the philosophy behind both terms well enough
to feel comfortable using either one . When writing for a
predominantly British audience, I typically use "disabled people" and
have no qualms about that. When writing for predominantly US
audiences, I use "people with disabilities," and for international
audiences I try to remember to use both in alternation.
I agree that "disabled people" is shorter and easier to write. For
international audiences, I do sometimes tend to use that a little more
often just because of that.
Andrea Shettle, MSW
[log in to unmask]
http://wecando.wordpress.com
On Mar 9, 2009, at 2:58 PM, Jason Ellis wrote:
> This is a very interesting question. Two of the disadvantages of the
> phrasing
> "person with a disability" are that it's awkward to write (not
> concise) and it
> limits one's prose options somewhat. That said, I respect the
> imperative to
> use language in my scholarship that people with disabilities deem
> appropriate
> and representative; "nothing about us without us" is important in this
> sense
> too. So now I'm most intrigued now about what kind of alternatives,
> or best
> practices, others use in their writing. Any tips and tricks you might
> suggest?
> Thanks
> Jason.
> --
> Jason Ellis
> Ph.D. candidate,
> Department of History, York University
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> Quoting Larry Arnold <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> Person first language is patronising and disabling language in my
>> opinion.
>> The issue seems to be resolved in the UK so far as I know in favour of
>> disabled people, that is to say the disability is an active
>> disempowering
>> process rather than a personal faculty.
>>
>> If I wanted to disable my computer I would throw a spanner at it, and
>> it
>> would then be a computer with a disability would it? it would be
>> knackered,
>> done in, wrecked. The disabling process lies not within the
>> individual,
>> though of course negative attribution styles borne of false
>> consciousness and
>> indoctrination can well contribute to ones own assisted suicide
>> whether
>> actual or political.
>>
>> I may be a person with a flute at times, but not everyone who is a
>> person
>> with a flute can be a flautist. It's what you do with it that matters
>> :)
>>
>> Larry
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: The Disability-Research Discussion List [mailto:DISABILITY-
>>> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Emma Rowlett
>>> Sent: 09 March 2009 16:41
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Terminology: disabled students v students with disabilities?
>>>
>>> Apologies for cross posting...
>>>
>>> When I started at University in 1999 the common term in use was
>>> 'students with disabilities' (e.g. NUS SWD Officer) and I was told
>>> that the idea behind this was putting the 'student' first (I don't
>>> remember who told me this!). I know there has been a move away from
>>> this in many places as "it implies that we ‘own’ the disability,
>>> while
>>> it is society which disables us" (according to Lorraine Gradwell in
>>> "A
>>> rose by any other name…" -
>>> http://www.healthmatters.org.uk/issue32/arose).
>>>
>>> Do any of you know of any other literature about this, particularly
>>> where 'students with disabilities' came from and why? Anything that
>>> references disabled people versus people with disabilities is also
>>> useful. I need to write about this in my thesis, but I also co-edit
>>> the "Students with Disabilities Series" in MSOR Connections and I am
>>> considering making a case for changing the name.
>>>
>>> Also, if you have any opinions about the two terms I'd like to hear
>>> from
>> you.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Emma
>>>
>>> --
>>> Emma Jane Rowlett (née Wright)
>>> School of Sociology and Social Policy
>>> University of Nottingham
>>>
>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>
>>> www.accessingmaterials.org.uk
>>>
>>> ________________End of message________________
>>>
>>> This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for
>> Disability Studies at
>>> the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).
>>> Enquiries about list administration should be sent to
>>> disability-research-
>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>
>>> Archives and tools are located at:
>>> www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
>>> You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this
>>> web page.
>>
>> ________________End of message________________
>>
>> This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for
>> Disability Studies at the University of Leeds
>> (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).
>> Enquiries about list administration should be sent to
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>> Archives and tools are located at:
>> www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
>> You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web
>> page.
>>
>>
>
> ________________End of message________________
>
> This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for
> Disability Studies at the University of Leeds
> (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).
> Enquiries about list administration should be sent to
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Archives and tools are located at:
> www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
> You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web
> page.
>
________________End of message________________
This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).
Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask]
Archives and tools are located at:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.
