I d e n t i t y - F i r s t L a n g u a g e

BROWN-BAG TALK

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO

W h a t A r e P e r s o n - a n d I d e n t i t y -

F i r s t L a n g u a g e ?

are two language styles that people use to refer to people with disabilities (or disabled people).

P e r s o n - a n d I d e n t i t y - f i r s t l a n g u a g e

puts the emphasis on people’s cultural identity in relation to their disability.

I d e n t i t y - f i r s t l a n g u a g e

tries to de-emphasize the disability, focusing on the individual instead.

P e r s o n - f i r s t l a n g u a g e

E x a m p l e s

Person with deafness/hearing loss

Individuals with autism

People with Down Syndrome

Person with ADHD

People with cerebral palsy

Persons with disabilities

Autistic people

Deaf person

Disabled people

Blind person

Schizophrenic individual

Bipolar people

Person-first Identity-first

W h y d o s o m e c o m m u n i t i e s p r e f e r

P e r s o n - f i r s t l a n g u a g e ?

• Some disability communities have struggled with essentialist mindsets that have treated their diagnosis as their most defining characteristic, leading activists to turn toward person-first language.

• The argument supporting person-first language sees people as being whole people, with disability only being part of their experience. However…

W h y d o s o m e c o m m u n i t i e s p r e f e r

i d e n t i t y - f i r s t l a n g u a g e ?

Autism is an intrinsic part of who I am. You can’t really separate it

from me.

I’m not carrying my autism with me, am I?

I consider myself part of the Deaf community. It’s

part of my culture.

What you consider a disability is just the way I

interpret the world.

You wouldn’t say “person with blackness,”

would you?

• Identity-first language comes from a philosophical approach to conceptualizing disability as something that is inseparable from a person’s experience.

• It leans toward a holistic model of disability, as opposed to an oppositional one.

• It views disability as natural, and opposes artificial separation while also avoiding dehumanization.

B u t i t ’ s c o m p l i c a t e d …

• Preferences for person-first and identity-first language vary from community to community. Generally speaking, with physical and intellectual disabilities tend to prefer person-first language; autistic, deaf, and blind people lean toward using identity-first language. It varies with psychiatric disabilities.

• The best way to be respectful to disabled people (or people with disabilities) is to use the term they prefer.

From “Ask an Autistic: What Not to Say to Autistic People,” by Amythest Schaber

W h a t d o y o u t h i n k , a n y way ?

• Like many other autistic people, I prefer autistic person over person with autism, which I consider inaccurate.

• This is because I don’t feel that I can be separated from my autism and still be me. “Person with autism” creates an artificial separation that I don’t think exists.

T a k e away s

• Use identity-first language or person-first language depending on the community you’re addressing and individuals’ personal preferences.

• Person-first language is not considered neutral, especially within the Deaf, Blind, and Autistic communities.

C r e d i t s & F u r t h e r R e a d i n g

• Lydia Brown. “The Significance of Semantics: Person-First Language: Why It Matters.” Autistic Hoya, 2011.

• Finn Gardiner, “Person-first language and oppositional models of disability,” Standing in the Way of Control, 2015.

• Cara Liebowitz. “I Am Disabled: On Identity-First versus People-First Language.” The Body Is Not an Apology, 2015.

• Jim Sinclair. “Why I Dislike Person-First Language.” 1999.

• Nick Walker. “Neurodiversity: Some Basic Terms and Definitions.” Neurocosmopolitanism, 2014.

T h a n k Y o u !