The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA], 2005-2006) is just one example of the degree to which language and discourse and lack thereof have had a major impact on the reality and survival of people with accessibility needs. Despite being a large minority of communities’ citizenry (NCD, 2005b-2005c), members of the class literally “were overlooked or swept aside,” absent from even reference in emergency preparedness policies (NCD, 2005a). Members of the class have been invisible, not only in emergency preparedness, but also in institutional (Schmetzke, 2005) and corporate policies (Head, 2005). The class is not only “out of sight, out of mind” (to quote writer/performer Cheryl Marie Wade in Mitchell & Snyder, 1996), but also out of cite, out of mind.
Society’s detachment from such obvious and omnipresent reality may seem inconceivable, at least to people who live the experience and to fellow accessibility advocates. Society’s detachment is indeed also real, attributed to stigma, fear, discomfort, and uncertainty concerning the unknown (Coleman, 1997; McCaughey & Strohmer, 2005, p. 89-90), fundamental negative bias (Wright, 1988), sociocultural conditioning, perceptions of having accessibility needs as punishment for sin and reminder of one’s own mortality, aesthetic aversion, and "threats to body image integrity" (Livneh, 1991). Lennard Davis (1995, p. xi, xv), noting the disengagement from the topic of having accessibility needs in academia, cites the categories "disabled," "handicapped," and "impaired" as being "products of a society invested in denying the variability of the body."
Because language is a primary means of communicating attitudes (Blaska, 1993, p. 27, quoting Froschl, et al., 1984, p. 20), it seems logical that representation of these fears, perceptions, and disengagement naturally may be transmitted via and reflected in the terminology that commonly describes people with accessibility needs. Whether coincidentally or by correlation, terminology utilized to describe people with accessibility needs traditionally has been distinguished for its prejudicial, stigmatizing, stereotypical qualities (Gouvier & Coon, 2002, p. 52) and negativity (Yuker, 1988, p. xiii). Completing the circle, the descriptors also have been found to influence not only society’s perceptions of the class, but also class members' self-perceptions (Gouvier, et al., 2000, p. 187-188).
Such is the status quo. The decision and power to accept or to change this status quo of perceptions, attitudes, and accompanying consequences rest ultimately with the real stakeholders in this matter: people with accessibility needs.
The art of social re-labeling, practiced widely today as social marketing (Andreasen, 1995; McKenzie, Neiger, & Smeltzer, 2005; Novelli, 1990), helps to change perceptions, attitudes, and social acceptability. Disparaging terms such as "asylum" seem more respectable if re-labeled "mental hospital." By definition, "exceptional children" denotes both children who are "superior, gifted" and children who "form an exception" and "are rare, incapacitated" (Rosenberg, 1979, p. 29-30). Exemplary terms change over time (Yuker, 1988, p. xiii). 21st century "wars" have become "theaters of operation" (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2005).
Language is power.
"Change the language, change the perception" may be a key to creating a positive awareness about people with accessibility needs and accessibility concerns, as ubiquitous as this awareness needs to become. For, thanks to global aging (WHO, 2006, Davis, 1995, p. xv), war and terrorism (Bilmes & Stiglitz, 2006; Gawande, 2004; ICDRI, 2006), as well as continuing natural disasters (FEMA, 2005-), people with accessibility needs increasingly are family members, neighbors, colleagues, friends, us: everyone.
Defining one’s own existence and identity, as other civil rights movements have successfully achieved in the past (Gallaudet University, 1988; Martin, 1991; Zola, 1993, p. 15), is an empowering experience. CSUN 2006 attendees are invited to participate in this experience via this Accessibility Research by and for People with Accessibility Needs.
References:
Andreasen, A.R. (1995). Marketing social change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bérubé, M. (1996). Life as we know it: a father, a family, and an exceptional child. New York: Pantheon.
Bilmes, L.. & Stiglitz, J.E. (2006, January). The economic costs of the Iraq War: an appraisal three years after the beginning of the conflict. Harvard University. John F. Kennedy School of Government (Faculty Research Working Paper, RWP06-002). Retrieved March 16, 2006, from http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP06-002
Blaska, J. (1993). The power of language: speak and write using "person first." In: M. Nagler (Ed.). Perspectives on disability. (2nd ed., pp. 25-32). Palo Alto, CA: Health Markets Research.
Bond, J. (2005). The language of war: a battle of words at Guantanamo Bay. Appeal: Review of Current Law and Law Reform, 10, 70-84.
Coleman, L.R. (1997). Stigma: an enigma demystified. In: L.J. Davis (Ed.) The Disability studies reader (pp. 216-231). New York: Routledge.
Davis, L.J. (Ed.) (1997). The Disability studies reader (pp. 216-231). New York: Routledge.
Davis, L.J. (1995). Enforcing normalcy: disability, Deafness, and the body. London: Verso.
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Gouvier, W.D., Barbin, J.M., Tucker, K.A., Hayes, J.S., & Denmite, S. (2000, July). Disabling written descriptors and attitudes among persons with spinal cord injury. International Journal of Rehabilitation & Health, 5(3), 187-193.
Gouvier. W.D., & Coon, R.C. (2002). Misconceptions, discrimination, and disabling language: synthesis and review. Applied Neuropsychology, 9(1), 48-57.
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Head, L. (2005, September 16). Ageing [sic] and the accommodating workplace: a survey of employer practice. Presentation at Workplace Accommodations State of the Science Conference, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA. Abstract retrieved Marc 16, 2006, from http://www.workrerc.org/sos/head.php
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McCaughey, T.J., & Strohmer, D.C. (2005). Prototypes as an indirect measure of attitudes toward disability groups. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 48(2), 89-99.
McKenzie, J.F., Neiger, B.L., & Smeltzer, J.L. (2005). Planning, implementing, & evaluating health promotion programs: a primer (4th ed.). San Francisco: Pearson/Benjamin Cummings.
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National Council on Disability [NCD]. (2005b, September 2 and 2005c, September 7). National Council on Disability on Hurricane Katrina and affected areas. Retrieved September 30, 2005, from http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2005/pdf/katrina2.pdf and http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2005/pdf/katrina.pdf
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Schmetzke, A. (2005. June 27). Best practices for library accessibility and universal design. Paper presented at a meeting of the American Library Association 2005 Annual Conference, Chicago, IL.
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Presenter’s Biographical Information:
Ellen Perlow, a career academic librarian and educator with degrees in elementary education, library and information science, educational technology, and law, is a graduate of the California State University at Northridge [CSUN] Assistive Technology Applications Certificate Program (September 2000) and CSUN Symposium Series advanced accessibility training (2001-2003), a regular AT conference participant, and a frequent presenter on accessibility and assistive technology at conferences and to university classes.
Ellen currently is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Health Studies at Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX. Her current dissertation research, in which conference attendees are invited to participate, focuses on the impact of accessibility-related terminology on accessibility advocacy success and self-empowerment of fellow people with accessibility needs to frame the terms of our own reality, culture, and discourse.
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