DISABLED students in the library classroom

Elizabeth A. Pineo

Video

Poster

LOEX Poster3 PDF.pdf

Abstract

Words are how we articulate and communicate thought; the words used to describe disability decide how we articulate and communicate thoughts about disability. In an information context, language issues become even more important, because all information professionals—not just instructional librarians—are educators; they are, after all, at the forefront of information dissemination, which is itself education. Creating inclusive learning environments for Disabled students means using language that includes and supports them all. This poster explains why person-first language (PFL) is perceived as ableist, presents the history of PFL and identity-first language (IFL), and argues in favor of using IFL.

Poster Content

(In order from top left down, middle, top right down.)

IMPORTANCE:

Students learn better in environments where they’re comfortable. Using their preferred language and descriptors makes them comfortable—and demonstrates respect for them.

BACKGROUND:

1959: PFL is first advocated for.
1980s: PFL sees widespread use when the HIV/AIDS community embraced it.
1988: First use of the phrase “person first language.”
1970s–1980s: Disabled people, particularly those whose disabilities manifested visibly, are largely ostracized from society and either hidden or institutionalized. They are often called "monsters," "freaks," or "morons," and their very humanity is denied. PFL is meant to help non-Disabled people recognize Disabled people as human.
Late 1980s/early 1990s: PFL overcorrects the issue and ends up separating the ideas of personhood and disability too much. PFL becomes a way to remind Disabled people that they aren’t fully human and to suggest that being Disabled is something so bad that it isn’t consistent with being human.
1999: Jim Sinclair, Autism advocate and founder of Autism Network International, writes the seminal article in favor of IFL.
2000s–present: The disability community continues to advocate for IFL, but non-Disabled people continue to insist upon using PFL—against the wishes of Disabled people themselves.

KEY IDEA:

Information educators should adopt IFL as our default language. Right now, PFL is our default—but it doesn't make sense for our default to be the language not preferred by those it's meant to serve.

That said, we should use the language that each individual wants us to use, whether it's IFL, PFL, or something different. That demonstrates respect.

EXPLANATION OF KEY IDEAS:

In referring to disability, there are two primary types of phrasing you can use: person-first language (PFL) and identity-first language (IFL).

PFL Examples:

Person with a disability
Person with autism
Person who is Deaf
Person who is Blind

IFL Examples:

Disabled person
Autistic person
Deaf person
Blind person

PFL is usually seen as medicalizing disability because it separates the person from their disability, while IFL is seen as embracing the identity of Disabled because it incorporates being Disabled as a positive characteristic.

We say "kind person" and "generous person," not "person with kindness" or "person with generosity"—because those are positive traits to possess. But we say "person with cancer” because that's a negative disease to have. Yet once a person has beaten cancer, they become a "cancer survivor."

You can also capitalize the "D" in Disabled. Not everyone does; it’s a newer choice that some Disabled people are making, following the Deaf, Blind, and Autistic communities, to signify the identity- and culture-status of being Disabled.