From One Survivor to Another

just had a realization about “Person First” language

secretsofthedisabled:

fromonesurvivortoanother:

Although part of the problem is that some people do see themselves/their personal identities as inseparable from their disabilities, another issue could be the way ableism works to erase disability.

This might sound weird. You may ask, “how can language that separates out disability in plain view also erase erase it?”

The simple answer is privilege. Privilege subjugates one group beneath another by designating it “Other”. When we use Person First, it is with the intention to treat people as individuals first, separate from their disabilities…the problem is that this in itself implies that having a disability makes you less human to begin with.

By using person first, we imply that there is some sort of “neutral”, or “human” state of being. The problem is that this “neutral” position has always been non-disabled people. Consequently, by using person first, we suggest that to be not of that neutral standpoint is to be less human. By prioritizing the *person* first, we are actually reinscribing the way non-disabled people hold power over disabled people. (And yes, it is, in fact, very possible to completely write off the group you’re trying to help/bring attention to while simultaneously claiming to have the focus on them, as we have seen with groups like Autism Speaks).

The big question is, why can’t people be people and still have their disabilities form an integral part of their self identities? What is wrong with identifying as a disabled person? Maybe we should examine our own internalized ableism and ask why it is so important to separate out our disabilities from ourselves…

*gives lawnmower*

i had to reblog this just to brag about getting the lawnmower

ableism takedown JOYRIDE

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11. goldenheartedrose reblogged this from fromonesurvivortoanother and added:

    I’m sure that I have reblogged this before, but it bears repeating.

12. yesthattoo reblogged this from fromonesurvivortoanother and added:

    Oh hey, more reasons to dislike person first language. I already disliked it.

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18. fromonesurvivortoanother reblogged this from secretsofthedisabled and added:

    i had to reblog this just to brag about getting the lawnmower ableism takedown JOYRIDE

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30. secretsofthedisabled reblogged this from fromonesurvivortoanother and added:

    *gives lawnmower*

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42. hidden-agender reblogged this from youarenotyou and added:

    THIS THIS THIS. ALL OF THIS.

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46. rachelg43 reblogged this from green-street-politics and added:

    This! This verbalizes what I’ve tried to explain to every professor!

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