Many people look at people with disabilities, and all they see are the disabilities that person holds.
They don’t see the way that person smiles, or the way that person laughs, or the way that person cracks jokes like they’re a stand up comedian. But the thing is, even though someone may be physically, emotionally, or mentally disabled, that is not who they are. A disability is not a person’s character, nor is a disability a person’s definition. A disability is a medical diagnosis. It is not the end-all. A disability does not have to be, nor should it be, all the person is known for.
People-first language brings forth and emphasizes the whole person, instead of the disability that person has. A disability description is a medical diagnosis, but the person with the disability deserves to be known as much more than what makes up the pages of a medical file.
Now here, I am going to give a seemingly incomparable example, and with this example I do not in any way mean to disregard the appalling ways people talk about people with disabilities.
If you were a person who only wore red shirts, you would not want to be known as “that red shirt person”, you would feel more respected and would prefer to be called “that person who wears red shirts”. This is how people first language works. The person is who is being talked to, referred to, or described is what should be addressed first, not the characteristic or medical diagnosis that person may hold or have. So when a young boy with down syndrome is talked about as that “down syndrome boy”, this is rude, impolite, and incorrect. That boy is not just a boy who was born with an extra 21st chromosome, that boy is a boy like any other boy who deserves respect and care anyone would receive from someone.
I talk about a girl in passing, at the mall let’s say, and she is just a typical high school aged looking girl. I’m talking to my friend and I tell her, oh I like that girl with the floral shirt’s haircut. I don’t say that floral shirt girl, because that is not that girl’s only characteristic. So I don’t label her. Even if I am just seeing her, or just meeting her. She is not floral shirt girl, she is a girl wearing a floral shirt. This same mindset should apply for people who have disabilities, for examples, people with Down Syndrome, people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and people with Anxiety Disorders.
How would you like it if someone only referred to you as one part of who you are? How would you like it if someone ignored every unique, special, and beautiful part of you, and only focused on and publicly noticed one part of you? You wouldn’t like that, because that’s not who you entirely are. Someone’s disability is only a piece of them. Everyone’s unique pieces come together to form incredibly special and complete puzzles, but when people do not opt to use people-first language, they ignore these puzzles and only focus on a single puzzle piece.
Stand up for the people who are subjected to labels of their disability or differences. Instead of being a bystander, be a role model in your community, and use people-first language. See every single person you encounter as the person they are and the person they want to be, and do not let other people and their language affect how you see the world and the special people who inhabit it.
Never think that differences should mean you do not fit, or that you are not worthy of people’s respect. Demonstrate people-first language, and the world will catch on.
