Disability, language, and Perspectives

Fall 2009

Impairment

Impairment:

• the loss or reduced function of a particular body part or organ (e.g., a missing limb).

Disability

• Disability:

• when an impairment limits the ability to perform certain tasks' (e.g., to walk, to see, to add a row of numbers) in the same way that most persons do.

Handicap

• Handicap:

• if the disability leads to educational, personal, social, vocational, or other problems.

Heward, W. L. (2003). Exceptional Children: An introduction to special education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall. P. 10

handicapisms

Promoting unjust or unequal treatment for individuals with disabilities

The International Symbol

Person-First language

• Put the person before the disability.

“Sharon is in Mrs. Gardner’s fifth grade classroom. Sharon has attention deficit disorder.”

• Identifying the disability as a characteristic, rather than the whole of a child.

“Brett is seven years old and has diabetes.”

Examples of handicapisms• Promoting unjust or unequal treatment for individuals with disabilities

• Focusing on the disability, rather than the person (not necessarily the same as “person-first” language)

• Assume that a disability implies handicap

• Seeing people with disabilities as victims

• Seeing people with disabilities as brave or courageous

• Seeing people with disabilities as afflicted or suffering

• Avoiding people with disabilities

• Speaking about people with disabilities in their presence, rather than to them

Other Handicapisms

• Gerald is confined to a wheelchair.

• Amy is autistic.

• Carrie is wheelchair-bound.

• I have three Downsies in my class.

• She has two wheelchairs and three ED’s in her class.

• Todd is the only LD student in Karen's class.

Brief Quiz

• Please identify which of the following sentences ARE examples of handicapisms.

• “I took my ED class to the park on Thursday.”• “Bob has a traumatic brain injury.”• “My bipolar sister went on a shopping spree last

weekend.”• “My boyfriend is soo ADD!”• “Jeffrey is learning disabled.”• “That’s so retarded!”