[nabs-l] Disability Language

Sun Jul 26 00:47:52 UTC 2015

Hi all. We all know that historically the blindness professions have
often been out of touch with what blind people actually want. I would
argue that what a "professional" thinks we should say is far less
important than what our clients want to be called. After all, isn't
professionalism, in the end, about pleasing and respecting the
customer? As others have mentioned, I am aware that many (though not
all) Deaf people call themselves Deaf with a capital D. So, that's the
term I'll use unless a specific deaf individual prefers different
terms. To be an empowering professional service provider, I think it
is so critically important to research and understand the preferences
of the communities you are serving. After all, that's what we
rightfully expect out of blindness professionals who serve us.
Best, Arielle

On 7/25/15, Justin Harford via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> I share a similar experience, working here in the independent living
> movement. I always use the politically correct language when referring to
> other people, and when at professional functions, but I am always a blind
> person, not a person who is blind.
>
>
>
>> On Jul 25, 2015, at 2:54 PM, Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Personally, what Caitlin just said extends to me even as a student in
>> a clinical field.  I may be corrected in the future, but if I don't
>> see how a supervisor will have reason to correct me for identifying
>> myself as long as I am professional and politically correct when
>> referring to clients.  They can correct me all they want if I call a
>> child I'm working with, "One of my blind kiddos," but if I'm saying,
>> "As a blind person I..." and they call me out on it, I'm likely to
>> explain why I prefer identity first language and liken it to Deaf with
>> a capital D instead of hearing impaired, and other such examples.
>>
>> I accept it is the right thing to do in clinical work, and want to set
>> a good example for others I might meet as a professional, but that is
>> separate from my personal beliefs and how I want to be
>> treated/referred to.  You're right, you do have to separate personal
>> from professional and if people take issue with what I call myself and
>> not my clients, then that's them not separating the two, not I.
>>
>>> On 7/25/15, Caitlin Best via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> I work for the army and the equal opportunity office for roughly 5 years,
>>> so
>>> I had a great deal of death employees come into my office. Most deaf
>>> people
>>> are very proud of their culture and their community and you don't even
>>> consider themselves to have a disability. They do preferred to use a D –
>>> a D
>>> to describe themselves. Also, using hearing impairment is very
>>> disrespectful. Most preferred to use hard of hearing or simply death
>>> because
>>> that is how they see themselves.
>>>
>>> As for other disability language, I would just rolled with whatever the
>>> person or people are comfortable with.
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>>> On Jul 25, 2015, at 13:50, Karl Martin Adam via nabs-l
>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Justin, the idea that you know better what someone should be called than
>>>> they do themselves seems awfully patronizing.  Isn't that sort of idea
>>>> that others know how we should live our lives better than we do a large
>>>> part of what we in the NFB and other disability rights organizations
>>>> spend
>>>> our time fighting.  Also I happen to know that there are a lot of deaf
>>>> people who consider themselves Deaf with a capital d and are very proud
>>>> of
>>>> their culture.  Calling them "persons with hearing impairments" or
>>>> something similar is extremely disrespectful.
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: justin williams via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>> Date sent: Sat, 25 Jul 2015 13:04:08 -0400
>>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Disability Language
>>>>
>>>> While operating in the field, I am careful to set the best example for
>>>> my
>>>> consumer. Often times, consumers use names such as physically disabled,
>>>> or
>>>> deaf, or something such as that.  They use the terminology given to them
>>>> by
>>>> those who while well meaning, are not in touch with the day to day
>>>> maneusha
>>>> which goes along with having a disability.  I am careful to usualy stay
>>>> in
>>>> the professional guidelines unless doing so will cause undo stress.
>>>> I've
>>>> noticed that when I use person first language, the consumer becomes more
>>>> empowered and is more inclined to take control of their life.
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle
>>>> Silverman via nabs-l
>>>> Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2015 12:57 AM
>>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>> Cc: Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com
>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Disability Language
>>>>
>>>> Hi Kaiti and all. I read an article recently about disability language
>>>> which
>>>> was published in the journal American Psychologist and authored by Dana
>>>> Dunn, a prominent disability psychologist. Basically, the article
>>>> described
>>>> how language preferences are changing. As others have pointed out, there
>>>> is
>>>> a lot of debate about whether to use person-first ("person who is
>>>> blind")
>>>> or
>>>> identity-first ("blind person"). What Dr. Dunn recommends is that
>>>> clinicians
>>>> should simply ask clients what term they prefer and use those terms
>>>> (honoring different clients with different terms, if necessary). So you
>>>> would not automatically need to call your client a person with a
>>>> disability
>>>> unless he/she explicitly prefers that language. I have noticed that the
>>>> vast
>>>> majority of people I meet/exchange emails with who have autism want to
>>>> be
>>>> called "autistic people" and the only people I know who use the term
>>>> "people
>>>> with autism" are non-autistic people. So, I regularly use the term
>>>> "autistic
>>>> person" because that seems to be the majority preference for those who
>>>> are
>>>> actually part of that group. If a particular autistic person or family
>>>> objects, then I will switch to their term of choice. I also use the term
>>>> "blind person" to describe myself and others in the blindness community.
>>>> When I talk to parents of blind children, I try to listen to their terms
>>>> and
>>>> follow their language (even if it's "visually impaired"). I think
>>>> honoring
>>>> language and building common language is a part of building rapport and
>>>> trust with others.
>>>> Arielle
>>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Kaiti Shelton
>> University of Dayton-Music Therapy
>> President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 2013-Present
>> Secretary, The National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts
>> Division 2015-2016
>>
>> "You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back!"
>>
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