We Are All People First

This one is near and dear to my heart.

Today, a phrase in Alan's presentation stuck out to me, and I wanted to share more of some of the back story on my career at West.  To be very, very clear, no part of this is a negative criticism of Alan or his work--you'll see why in a minute.

Language is a powerful thing.  Words carry meaning and convey ideas. Order matters.

Beginning in August 2000, I worked full time as a special education teacher, first at my alma mater in Merrimack, N.H., for a year and then at West beginning just before September 11. My mother taught youth with special needs for decades, and I felt the call too.

Source: Marcel Oosterwijk; CC share-alike, attribution license

I have a special place in my heart for those who are differently abled, and I get frustrated, even angry when I hear media outlets like CNN and National Public Radio say things in their reporting like "the 9-year-old autistic girl," "the blind woman" or "the man, who is confined to a wheelchair, blah blah...."

In the first two examples, reporters are describing a disability first, then a person. In the last example, assistive and adaptive technology that opens the world for a person is described with an exceptionally negative word.

We need to put people first.

Disabilities are often--though not always--easy to observe. As we talk about disabled people, then, we lead with what we see that is different or strange or concerning or obvious.  Blindness. Autism. Down Syndrome. Amputation. Paralysis.  Disability first. Person second.

Instead, we need to flip that and recognize those in front of us as people first.

Consider:

• "that blind girl" versus "the girl with a sight impairment" or "girl who is blind" 
• "...an autistic boy" versus "a boy with autism" 
• "a paralyzed veteran confined to a wheelchair" versus "a veteran whose wheelchair enables access to...." 

It can be slightly more cumbersome, especially in our domain where we strive for an economy of words.  On this count, though, it's always worth it.  People first. Every time.  

Today, Alan said that his staff reach out to the "special ed kids" in their work on Distribution Day.  My heart leapt to hear of a colleague who is no doubt an opinion leader in his building making such a positive impact with his students and students with special needs at Annandale, and I knew when I heard him say it that this was my moment to offer a gentle and heartfelt critique of language use.

I've advocated for person-first language use on the JEA listserv before, and I've written to both CNN and National Public Radio to do my best to advocate for person-first language when covering those with disabilities. If I hear "confined to a wheelchair" one more time on All Things Considered, I might go listen to Rush.  (No, no I won't.)  I don't know if I've gotten anywhere with Big News, but I'm proud to say I've heard from a few colleagues on the list who are making a push to use person-first language both in their publications and their lives.  I hope that when you return to your staffs, you might add an entry to your style manual that addresses person-first language when writing/covering those with disabilities. It's important and worth teaching to our kids.

So again, massive kudos to Alan on what his team is already doing, and gentle advice from an 11-year special education veteran to keep people first in all we do, write, and say.

Cheers,

Mike Simons
West HS / East HS
Corning-Painted Post, NY