Have you ever felt excluded from a group because of a percieved difference?
Maybe that difference was only perceived by you, or maybe it was the group. Either way can be difficult and feel bad.
It's helpful for everyone to try to attempt to avoid this, especially for those with learning differences.
Simon suffers from ADHD. Oh my, that dyslexic kid has done it again. That wheel-chair bound girl is a slow thinker.
Yes, even in this day and age, many of us are blithely ignorant that language is powerful. How many times have you seen of someone calling someone with dyslexia “stupid” or “dumb”? Or perhaps read an article where he is described as “suffering” something?
These examples are everywhere. In fact, we may have committed this offence ourselves.
But let’s begin with us and change the way we address people with learning disabilities. They are no different from us – these people think the same we do, share the same levels of creativity and innovativeness and are productive members of society.
The A, B, C’s
For starters, someone does not suffer from something. Simon has ADHD not Simon suffers from ADHD.
Janice uses a wheelchair. She isn’t wheelchair bound.
Christopher is not mentally handicapped, mentally defective, retarded or subnormal. He has a learning disability.
And that also goes with describing a person with learning disabilities. She is not a “dyslexic kid”. She has dyslexia.
And if you think we are being causeless sticklers, understand that how you address someone can impact the way he or she feels, thinks and relates to the world around them.
Do you have a similar experience of having someone say something insensitive at you or your child? Share with us your encounter and how you dealt with it in our comments section below.
Key Takeaways:
In the end, we are all responsible for our own feelings but we can make it easier on others by using inclusive language and not defining them by their difference.
We are all different from each other. Some differences are just more obvious.
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