Mélange Accessibility for All Magazine July 2021 | Page 8

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Should I say ‘ disabled person ’ or ‘ person with a disability ’?

Listen to how people refer to themselves .

Arisa Chattasa / Unsplash , CC BY

Recently , an Alberta woman with an obvious physical disability was asked to leave a grocery store and not come back because she could not pack her own groceries quickly enough . According to the report on CBC ’ s Go Public , the checkout clerk said she was slowing down the line as she struggled to bag her groceries , and the store said no staff were available to help her . Presumably , neither were other patrons .

This story is consistent with what many disabled people say they experience . The Human Rights Commission says that almost 60 per cent of all claims cite disability as the basis for discrimination . People with disabilities are routinely denied the rights we all know they are entitled to . A poll commissioned by the Rick

Hansen Foundation found that 90 per cent of Canadians agree that accessibility for people with physical disabilities is a right , not a privilege , but there is still a clear prejudice in how disabled people are treated .

Disability is a sensitive topic . Fear of saying the wrong thing prevents people from saying anything at all , and makes us avoid having important conversations about disability . This avoidance in turn creates the kind of toxic environment that leads to situations such as the one described above .

In our research at the Canadian Disability Policy Alliance , we worked with disability advocacy groups to assemble some guidelines to help readers gain confidence in their ability to participate in positive ways in the dialogue with people with disabilities .

Here , we share those guidelines :

Listen to how people talk about themselves The Canadian government has advocated “ people-first ” language which emphasizes putting the person first and the disability second : for example , saying a person with a spinal cord injury , or a person with a history of depression . Many disabled people , however , say the disability is not inside of them : they are not a “ person with a disability .” Rather they are a “ disabled person ” - someone who is disabled by a world that is not equipped to allow them to participate and flourish . But they are a person either way . Avoid objectifying people by referring to them as “ the disabled .” Our advice is to listen to how people talk about their disability themselves , and take your cue from them .