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Re: A question on political correctness...

for

From: Elle
Date: Jul 20, 2012 3:49PM

*On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 11:55 AM, Poore-Pariseau, Cindy <
<EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
*
>
> *I always used "person first language" as well until a person on my
> dissertation committee "enlightened" me. I now put the following along
> with anything I am teaching that is disability related.
>
> While “person first” (i.e. "students with disabilities") language has been
> popularized in recent years, many professionals argue that, although a
> person may possess a particular characteristic such as blindness, the label
> of ”disabled” is socially constructed and has been imposed by society
> (Bowker, & Tuffin, 2007). For the purpose of this unit, the term “disabled
> student” will be utilized to signify that the lack of accessibility has
> caused the learning barrier rather than the impairment itself. (In other
> words, a person with an impairment would not be “disabled” in an
> environment that is accessible)
>
> Bowker, N., & Tuffin, K. (2007, July). Understanding positive
> subjectivities made possible online for disabled people. New Zealand
> Journal of Psychology, 36(2), 63-71. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier
> database.
> *


Cindy:

What a fantastic contribution to this discussion, thank you. I just
finished watching Audism Unveiled <http://www.dawnsign.com/audism>; with my
daughter last night (thanks to a recommendation by Glenda Sims), and I'm
learning a lot about the liberating or disabling power of language this
week.

Much appreciated,
Elle