Spread the Word to End the Word

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If you remember back to when the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, it took years before the law really seemed to have an effect. For the longest time people still used the degrading term, Negro, before they transitioned to Black and now African American. There was never a legislation passed for this movement, but our society has changed a great deal in this area. During the Civil Rights movement, people wouldn’t tolerate the “N” word. We need to stand our ground and not allow the “R” or “H” word to be used.

I know we have a long way, but bottom line is we need people with disabilities to be perceived as valuable, participating members of our society. Now it is our time to change the language used to describe children and adults with disabilities. We need to focus on the person first, then the disability last and to describe what the person has, not what he/she is. No one “suffers from” or is a victim of anything. They are people with a disability and a disability is only one aspect of an individual. Wouldn’t it be great if the children who are 8 years old today become adults and have replaced our current degrading labels with the People First Language.

Labels just lump people together and focus on the disability not the person and what they can do. So let’s start today with no more labels, no more degrading people. The “R” and “H” word need to be nonexistent when discussing people with intellectual disabilities. More importantly is not alright to use these words when joking around with your friends. Let’s be positive and utilize and educate people on the People First Language and always remember that people with disabilities should be perceived as valuable members of our society.