Communication Group Wireless Enabled Remote Co-presence (WERC) Disability ResourcesMobility Tricycle Project.Mali Water and Disabilities Study Macha Oxygen Concentrator Project.Education Group Burkina Summer Enrichment Program at the Center for the Advancement of the Handicapped (CAH) in the village of Mahadaga,.

Language is a socially shared code for representing concepts through the use of arbitrary symbols and rule-governed combinations of those symbols.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REkCB7ePEek&feature=related

and words can really hurt you!

The autistic personThe crippled kidThe disabled peopleThe lady who is wheelchair boundHe suffers from cerebral palsyHes in special educationNormal kids

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Focus on the person first, the disability last.When needed or required describe what the person HAS, not WHAT he/she IS.Remember that no one suffers from, or is afflicted with or is a victim of anything!

Nor is anyone wheelchair-bound. There are people who USE wheelchairs...nothing else! People are not bound by their wheelchairs. Their wheelchairs allow them the freedom to go where they want to go!

People with disabilities.My sonhas autism.Shehas Down Syndrome.He is a personwith a seizure disorder.Heuses a wheelchair.Shehas short stature.Hehas no speech. Shehas a learning disability.He is a personwho has.Shehas an emotional disturbance.Hehas quadriplegia, paraplegia, etc.Shereceives Special Ed Services.Accessible parking.Typical instead of normal

He is orthopedically impaired.The developmentally disabled girl.The autistic.Shes wheelchair bound.He suffers from cerebral palsy.Handicapped parking.The mentally retarded. Hehas an orthopedic disability.Shehas a developmental disability The man who has autism. She uses a wheelchair.He has cerebral palsy.Accessible parking. People with intellectual disability.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHRYUf1crPk&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLD7433BAF2275F379

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLpwWUKm6KA&feature=related

General Rule of ThumbDo not label !If you must use People First Language in your spoken and written language.

Welcome to an Authentic Service ChapelMy name is Nancy Patrick and I teach in the Education Department, specifically in the teacher preparation in special education. I am also the Director of the new Graduate Program in Education with both special education and TESOL tracks. It is my pleasure to be here this evening to lead us in this form of worship.*It is clearly evident that God has chosen to bring us, as workers in the Collaboratory, into His work with individuals who have disability. We only have to look at the number of current groups and projects that serve those with disability to know that this is correct. In order for us to be useful it is essential that we understand how to respectfully interact with the individuals we serve and who serve us.*What do we need to know that will allow us to interact respectfully with individuals with disability? The answer is complex and has many facets.

During this chapel I hope to address a small, yet important piece of this larger puzzle.

We will examine our language patterns related to disability and we will reflect on the power of language to be used for good or to cause harm.

*Language is the way in which we represent or put forth concepts. The symbols or in the case of spoken language, the sounds and the WORDS we choose to use and the way in which we combine these words reveals to others our thoughts and feelings.

Language is an important part of how we shape our views of others, how we display our feelings towards others and what we think about others. It also plays a critical role in shaping how others feel about themselves. *How many of you have heard the idiom sticks and stones can or may break your bones ? (raise hands)

Now lets say it together and finish it with me Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you. Good!

I have often wondered where this idiom originated so I looked it up. I discovered that this childrens taunt is an English proverb that was first recorded in 'Folk Phrases of Four Counties' (1894) by G.F. Northall and is first attested in the United States in 'Miss Lindsey' (1936) by S.G. Gibbons.

If a child were teased the other child would taunt back with Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words can never hurt me! While I believe that words cant break bones sometimes the pain is actually worse. Words can and do hurt!! Lets break this down.

Play video.

I am sure that none of us would purposely use our words to hurt the very individuals we aspire to serve, but it happens everyday.

*This is Shannon Lake she is a character in the comic strip For Better or For Worse written by Lynn Johnston.

In 2004 this comic was published in a year long series. The series introduced Shannon and her experiences as a high school student with an intellectual disability who was mainstreamed into regular education.

Shannon becomes friends with April, another student in the regular education program..

Read story.

I think that everyone would agree that this comic scenario is a pretty clear example of meanness and is pretty inappropriate. Most of us would never deliberately call a person with an intellectual disability retarded or a dummy.

However, I am pretty sure that many would say *Some of you are already getting my point depending upon your background and others are probably asking yourself why these phrases would be considered inappropriate to use when referring to someone with a disability.

Lets take a closer look.

*

When someone refers to another person as a disabled person it communicates the message that this persons entire identify is trumped by their disability. If I were to graph this identify it might look something like this pie chart. Disabled accounts for all of the variability of this person.

If someone were to refer to another person as a Person with a Disability it communicates the message that while this person has a disability there is the likelihood that they also have other attributes. If I were to graph this identify it might look something like this pie chart. Disability is just a small part of the individuals true identity.

So how can we learn to be respectful in our language regarding disability?

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*Lets take a look at some examples of people first language.*General rule of thumb Do not label!!!!*