Mar 24, 2011
Written by Teena Fitzroy
March is Disability Awareness Month, so let's start by using people-first language when speaking about individuals with disabilities. Saying a person with a disability is preferable to a disabled person. Many words are often used when referring to someone who has a disability. These words include retard, handicapped and crippled. These words are degrading and insulting. Let's replace these negative words with people-first language.Everyone with a disability is a person first and foremost. I have a disability and that is cerebral palsy but cerebral palsy does not define who I am by any stretch of the imagination.
Who I am is a wife, mother, grandmother, friend, co-worker and public speaker. Yet because I walk differently and speak differently, people often are quick to judge me. I am who I am not because of my disability but because I had people who believed in me and always saw my abilities.
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