Disability, language, and Perspectives January 15, 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

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 Assume that a disability implies handicap Seeing people with disabilities as victims Seeing them as brave or valiant Seeing people with disabilities as afflicted 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 examples 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!”