Comments on: The Problem with Person-First Language: What’s Wrong with This Picture? http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2012/05/30/the-problem-with-person-first-language-whats-wrong-with-this-picture/ Changing the Cultural Conversation Mon, 21 Oct 2013 22:37:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 By: romham http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2012/05/30/the-problem-with-person-first-language-whats-wrong-with-this-picture/#comment-25 romham Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:56:55 +0000 http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/?p=62#comment-25 Gah! i didnt even see the shadows til you mentioned them. Not a fan of this graphic or it’s message.

Too often people tell me “but I don’t see your disability!” and “I don’t think of you as disabled!”. It’s troubling for me because, well, hi denial; but also, it makes assumptions about what i have going on, people assume they know what my “disability” is, what it contains, and they’re wrong. I have disabilitIES, and they are varied; because there exists the one manifestation that most people can understand and recognize as “Disability(tm)” (i.e. being on wheels) doesn’t mean they have any understanding of what’s going on for me. Yet, without really much info at all, they are able to erase my reality as a gimp. Powerful.
And really annoying lol.

]]> By: Trance http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2012/05/30/the-problem-with-person-first-language-whats-wrong-with-this-picture/#comment-24 Trance Sun, 03 Jun 2012 02:19:48 +0000 http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/?p=62#comment-24 Yes. Neurotypical empathy is NOT the be all, end all of empathy. It’s limited.

]]> By: Nick http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2012/05/30/the-problem-with-person-first-language-whats-wrong-with-this-picture/#comment-23 Nick Sun, 03 Jun 2012 02:03:44 +0000 http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/?p=62#comment-23 I think that identity-first language probably one of the best ways to go about using terms that relate to a person’s disability. I don’t typically call myself a “person with bipolar.” I don’t “suffer from bipolar.” I usually just say, “I’m bipolar.” It’s just a part of me. But it does make a difference in what other people’s use of the word is; a disability isn’t something that’s meant to be used as a joke. Getting back to identity-first language, it is important to get to know how a person addresses their own disability. I personally feel like mine is part of me, it has been for most of my life, and if I weren’t bipolar, I wouldn’t be me.

]]> By: Haddayr http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2012/05/30/the-problem-with-person-first-language-whats-wrong-with-this-picture/#comment-18 Haddayr Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:30:09 +0000 http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/?p=62#comment-18 Jeff, I feel like that was the POINT of the graphic, but that it simply didn’t work, as it contained all of the unconscious background assumptions Rachel mentions.

]]> By: Haddayr http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2012/05/30/the-problem-with-person-first-language-whats-wrong-with-this-picture/#comment-17 Haddayr Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:07:57 +0000 http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/?p=62#comment-17 HEAR, HEAR!
:fans you:

]]> By: Jeff W. http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2012/05/30/the-problem-with-person-first-language-whats-wrong-with-this-picture/#comment-14 Jeff W. Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:45:39 +0000 http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/?p=62#comment-14 Yes and no. Yes – “See BOTH the person AND the disability. Because there is nothing dehumanizing or shameful about a disability.” But I don’t think it’s about denial. Artistically, this doesn’t work. This graphic is a commentary on our perceptions of the disabled. We take in so much of our information visually that it is easy to make judgements based upon appearance and forget that what makes a person a unique individual is so much more. This graphic is a reminder that we all need to love the whole person irrespective of any physical limitations. The shadows are an acknowledgement of the disability and an effective way of saying that it is part of who the person is, but not the primary defining characteristic of that person. As for the gender pairing statement, I think this is reading too much into it. Note that in every case, one figure is separated from the next by text of some sort. I don’t think any pairing is intended.
So in the end, I don’t think the graphic is about separating a person from a disability. It is about us perceiving the person first and the disability second – and not vice versa.

]]> By: EB http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2012/05/30/the-problem-with-person-first-language-whats-wrong-with-this-picture/#comment-13 EB Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:33:05 +0000 http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/?p=62#comment-13 On a related topic, it strikes me that some of the educational and therapeutic interventions that are devised for children with disabilities, particularly autism and/or cognitive disabilities, are so intense and so unremitting that they indicate an unwillingness to accept the child as s/he is. The goal seems to be to transform the child into one who is indistinguishable from children without disabilities. Of course we have to support high quality education for all children, but not at the price of refusing the reality of who the child is.

]]> By: Bob Bennett http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2012/05/30/the-problem-with-person-first-language-whats-wrong-with-this-picture/#comment-12 Bob Bennett Fri, 01 Jun 2012 02:41:51 +0000 http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/?p=62#comment-12 Of course, the largest unrecognized disability is the closed mindedness of the many who consider themselves ‘normal’.

]]> By: Colleen T http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2012/05/30/the-problem-with-person-first-language-whats-wrong-with-this-picture/#comment-11 Colleen T Fri, 01 Jun 2012 01:33:17 +0000 http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/?p=62#comment-11 I think that it is appropriate for a person to use whatever they want to use to refer to themselves or others that have similar characteristics. Just as some minorities may use words to describe themselves with pride and rightfully so. However, when certain words are used by others outside of a select population to describe others viewed as different, they can then become dehumanizing because the words can have negative connotations that are implied by their use. I very much could see the benefit to my son to insist that the school first refereed to him by name only and then second when needed to state his disability as something he has. Because when others use disability terms or categories it isn’t often with the notion of pride or seeing the person as a whole person, our insistence did help others view him in a more positive light and accept him for who he is. My concern is the intent of the person using the words, if it is for pride, self-identification and in a positive context, then great, but often the media and others are using terms to describe people negatively, as limited and not whole, and perpetuating stereotypes.

]]> By: Peggy Wallace http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2012/05/30/the-problem-with-person-first-language-whats-wrong-with-this-picture/#comment-10 Peggy Wallace Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:53:39 +0000 http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/?p=62#comment-10 Thank you for your thoughtful writing about Person-First. That phrase caught my eye because I am a “Person First” trainer in a retirement community with three levels of care: independent living, assisted living, and a health care center. We have embarked on an ambitious years long culture change that brings dementia out of the health care center only and moves it into the center of our community, as well as helping staff see patients as persons and not as just “old people with problems.” Each trainer pairs with a staff member, or an independent living person. We teach both in the health center and in the assisted living center. It has been a difficult change for all of us, but most well accepted and loved in the health care center. I invite you to read about it at our website http://www.pilgrimplace.org. Keep up your awareness work!
Peggy Wallace

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