[Blindtlk] Use of the Term Visually Impaired

[kelby carlson]

I actually want to push back against the idea of "person-first"
language. Two reasons come immediately to mind: it can often be
linguistically clunky, particularly if you are simply trying (for
whatever reason) to insert an adjective into a sentence. "Kelby is
blind" and "Kelby is a person with blindness" are functionally
identical statements that communicate the exact same reality. But
let's assume that language is more political than I think it is. I
think there's still a problem with "person-first" language, as it
actually restricts the disabled from incorporating their disability
into a larger framework of identity. If I were to describe myself as
"tall", "green-eyed", "talkative", and "bookish", all of these are
parts or aspects of my identity that carry different degrees of weight
and importance. Adding "blind" to that list incorporates my disability
as something that partially shapes and governs my identity, without
giving it primarily place. By contrast, "person with blindness"
implies that "blindness" as an abstract quality can be detached from
the person to whom it is being ascribed; moreso, it implies that such
a depersonalization is actually a moral necessity. It seems to me that
to separate a person from their disability in this way is the
philosophical equivalent of partial dehumanization, because it denies
the possibility and benefit of incorporation of disability into one's
human identity.

Now I don't think this is an ironclad case, but it does suggest that
the self-evident morality of "person-first" language is actually
nothing of the kind when it is investigated.



On 6/21/13, Michael Capelle <michael.capelle at charter.net> wrote:
> Definitely, I have always agreed with the statement, "people first."
>
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