Learning “Person First” Language
Imagine referring to your next door neighbor as "the cancerous woman."
Not only does it sound odd, it is very degrading to your neighbor, who happens to have
cancer. It is very likely that this poor woman would rather be known as the excellent
painter that she is, rather than her medical label. This is not to say that she is ashamed
that she has cancer; rather, she does not want to be defined by a few malfunctioning cells
in her lymbic system.
By and large, terms such as "handicapped" have passed out of usage, at least when
applied to people. Parking stalls and restrooms, apparently, are still able to have
disabilities. Other even more degrading words ("crippled," "retarded," etc.) have also
passed out of common language, though the second is still used as a diagnostic
description.
Your neighbor, who has cancer, would probably prefer that you treat cancer as a
condition that she has, rather than something that defines who she is.
So why is it that we say "my autistic child," or "that Downs kid"?
Why is it that we still say "oh, he's ADHD" or even the benign-sounding "my special
needs child and her sister"?
Current best practices are person-centered, as we focus on each person's needs, and the
supports and services they require from us to be successful. One aspect of this respectful
view of the people we serve is to use Person First Language.
This description was taken from disabilityisnatural.com's description of Person First
Language.
Disability is not the “problem.”
We need to rid our vocabulary of the word “problem” when talking about people’s
needs. Recognize that what we call a “problem” is actually a need.
The real problems are attitudinal and environmental barriers.
If educators—and our society at large—perceived children with disabilities as individuals
who have the potential to learn, who have the need for the same education as their
brothers and sisters, and who have a future in the adult world of work, we wouldn’t have
to fight for inclusive education.
If employers—and our society at large—believed adults with disabilities have valuable
job skills and can contribute to the success of a business, we wouldn’t have to fight for
real jobs for real pay in the real community.
If business owners—and our society at large—viewed people with disabilities as
consumers with money to spend, we wouldn’t have to fight for accessible entrances and
other accommodations.
Some general rules that work in most situations:
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Use possesive language to refer to disabilities. Use the word has instead of the
word is. Jenny has autism, rather than Jenny is autistic. Phrasing the sentence
using "has" makes autism just one thing -- among many -- that Jenny has. Jenny
also has brown eyes and curly hair. She also has a Powerpuff girls backpack. Oh
-- and, she has autism.

Use possessive language to refer to assistive technology. Use the word has or
uses rather that is confined to. Matt uses a wheelchair to get around, rather than
Matt is confined to a wheelchair. Matt uses augmentative communication to
speak, rather than Matt can't talk. In both cases, the pieces of equipment are
viewed respectfully as something Matt uses to accomplish everyday tasks. Also
avoid using “wheelchair bound.”

Special education is a service, or set of services; it is not a place. Sally receives
special education supports and services. She may do so in a classroom that serves
students with disabilities, but she is not "in" special education.

Things cannot be "handicapped." Parking spaces, restrooms, etc., are designed to
be accessible for persons who have disabilities. They are not "handicapped" in
and of themselves. Refer to them as accessible parking spaces, or accessible
restrooms. They could also be parking spaces reserved for persons with
disabilities.
We use the terms ``impairment,'' ``disability'' and ``handicap'' that basically follow the
World Health Organization (WHO) terms
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An impairment is a physiological disorder or injury. For example, if Mary loses
her thumb while using power tools, that is an impairment.
A disability is an inability to execute some class of movements, or pick up
sensory information of some sort, or perform some cognitive function, that typical
unimpaired humans are able to execute or pick up or perform. For example, the
loss of a thumb may not cause a disability for Mary, who is a homemaker, but it
may cause a disability for Joe who is an accomplished violinist. It’s all in the
context.
A handicap is an inability to accomplish something one might want to do, that
most others around are able to accomplish, in other words, it’s a competitive
disadvantage. For example, losing a thumb for Joe the violinist may put him at a
disadvantage for gainful employment at the symphony.

Disability makes someone different. Different is not inherently bad. It may be
inconvenient to require supports that others do not, but a disability is not
something to feel sorry for.

Above all, put yourself in the place of the person about whom you are speaking.
If your main challenge in life is that you are tone-deaf, would you want everyone
to refer to you as "the singing-impaired person, who is very nice in lots of ways"?
For more information on Person First Language, please check out:
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American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
National Service Inclusion Project
American Psychological Association
Disability Is Natural
Excellent resources for further reading, highly recommended:
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No Pity : People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement
(Paperback) by Joseph P. Shapiro
Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence
(Paperback) by John Hockenberry