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- People-first language is used to communicate appropriately and respectfully with and about an individual with a disability. People-first language emphasizes the person first, not the disability.
www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/materials/factsheets/fs-communicating-with-people.html
People also ask
Why is language important for people with disabilities?
Should people first language be used?
How can we help people with disability speak a different language?
Apr 12, 2023 · Some within the disability community oppose person-first language. They believe that if language is needed to separate them from a trait of theirs, it suggests that the trait is negative. They may prefer to use identity-first language because they feel the trait is a core component of their identity.
- Person-first and Destigmatizing Language
Person-first language is a way to emphasize the person and...
- Person-first and Destigmatizing Language
Mar 7, 2023 · Person-first language (PFL) is a way of constructing sentences to emphasize a person’s individuality ahead of their condition, race, or other personal attributes. When discussing disabilities on this blog, we generally use person-first language — but as we’ll discuss in a moment, that’s not always the case.
Sep 5, 2024 · When talking about people with disabilities or conditions, choosing between person-first language and identity-first language is important. In this article, discover how to use these language forms to communicate with respect and inclusivity.
Apr 23, 2021 · “By using ‘people first’ language, the person is placed before the disability, which emphasizes people with disabilities are, first and foremost – people, and describes what a person has, not what a person is.
- "Do's" in People-First Language
- "Don'ts" in People-First Language
- Your Community Is Your Guide
A person with a disability/living with a disability
A phrase meant to emphasize someone’s status as a full-fledged, multi-faceted human being, instead of focusing on one sole facet of the person: their disability. "A person with a disability/living with a disability" as a phrase is meant to separate a person from the disability that they possess. This phrase implies that while a person’s disability may be attached to a person, it isn’t necessarily a central part of a person. The disability does not make up who they are as human beings. A perso...
Wheelchair User
A term to describe people in relation to their wheelchairs in a positive way. The term is intended to highlight how many people with disabilities view their wheelchairs as helpful devices to enhance mobility. Many people with disabilities prefer to use this term. Jennifer Kretchmer, a tabletop gamer who has developed accessibility guides for tabletop gaming, said about wheelchairs, "it’s a tool, just like a wrench, just like your armor, or your shield." The term “wheelchair user” can frame wh...
Person with support needs
A term to describe people with disabilities’ areas of functioning with which they may need support. Many people with disabilities prefer this term instead of functioning labels. Advocate Finn Gardener argued in a piece for Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism that: In other words, people such as Gardener believe that the term “support needs” frames people’s needs as something they have, not something that defines who they are.
Handicapped
A controversial term to describe people with disabilities as well as services for people with disabilities, such as parking. Many people with disabilities find this word offensive. The USDA Forest Service, Technology and Developmentexplained that: In the same vein, both the Ohio and New Jerseygovernments have suspended the use of the term “handicapped parking” to describe parking for people with disabilities. They have replaced the term with “accessible parking.”
Crippled
A derogatory term for people with physical disabilities that many people with disabilities find offensive. Still My Revolutionlaid out the negative connotations, saying how the word “means to break or make unworkable.” Forbes contributor Andrew Pulrangexplained why the term is so reviled: Many believe that the use of the word Crippled, whether intentional or not, is harmful in any context.
Wheelchair-bound
A term to describe people who use wheelchairs that many wheelchair users find offensive. As Brown University’s Student Accessibility Servicesput it, the term “defines a person's disability as a limitation.” Tony Trott of New Mobility Magazine noted that wheelchairs do not confine their users, in fact, “a wheelchair does pretty much the opposite for those of us who use them; they enable us and they are extremely liberating devices.” Citizens for Accessible Neighborhoods’ Heather McCain said that:
While People-First Language is often preferred and considered best practice, there are also those who argue that their disability is an inseparable part of who they are. For example, the phrase "disabled person", places the role a person's disability plays in their life and overall identity front and center. In this context, the phrase disabled per...
Apr 5, 2024 · Person-first language is a way to emphasize the person and view the disorder, disease, condition, or disability as only one part of the whole person. Describe what the person “has” rather than what the person “is.”
Putting the person first, as in “people with disability,” is called people-first language. It is commonly used to reduce the dehumanization of disability. Another popular linguistic prescription is the identity-first language, as in “disabled people.”.
