Links

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WVDDC

NADDC

American's with Disabilities Act

Centers for Disease Control

Administration for Children and Families

Developmental Disabilities Resource Center

Disability Rights Law

The American Association for People with Disabilities

Student Activities

STUDENT DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
PEOPLE FIRST LANGUAGE: YES OR NO??

YES

Placing the disability label first leads to defining that person as his/her disability. By placing the person first, recognition is given to the fact that the person is much more than a label. Disability is just one aspect of who a person is – it does not define who that person is. Words are powerful and shape the way we think. Society tends to place stigma and view disability in a negative, problematic way, it is important to use language in a way to create a more positive image.

NO

By promoting people first language, one is accepting that disability is a bad word or a negative characteristic rather than a source of pride. It seems to be promoted only for terms that we would consider problematic or negative. Elizabeth DePoy and others argue that it is euphemistic. “If the modifier is so heinous as to require personhood to be asserted before it, the devaluation of the modifier is pretty obvious.” (DePoy).

What do you think?

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