RE: Question on Terminology

Hi Laura,



Many in the Deaf community do not think of being deaf as having a disability. They thus find offensive terms such as "impairment". For decades, they have wanted to be referred to as "the Deaf" with a capital "D" instead of being referred to using people-first language.



Interestingly, the Deaf community used to be unique in that way. Yet there is now a growing movement by many people with autism. They too don't want to be referred to with people-first language. Instead, they want to be referred to as "Autistics".



I have never noticed that same thinking within the community of people with visual disabilities.

John

John Rochford<http://profiles.umassmed.edu/profiles/display/132901>
UMass Medical School/E.K. Shriver Center
Director, INDEX Program
Instructor, Family Medicine & Community Health
www.DisabilityInfo.org
Twitter: @ClearHelper<https://twitter.com/clearhelper>
[Facebook Button]<http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-England-INDEXShriver-CenterUMass-Medical-School/227064920160>[Twitter Button]<https://twitter.com/NEINDEX> [WordPress Logo] <http://www.disabilityinfo.org/blog/>



-----Original Message-----
From: Laura Carlson [mailto:laura.lee.carlson@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2016 2:41 PM
To: public-low-vision-a11y-tf <public-low-vision-a11y-tf@w3.org>
Subject: Question on Terminology



Hi all,



This may be a stupid question but I was rereading the overview [1] and noticed the word "Impairment" is used several times. Is the word okay to use for people with visual disabilities or like the term "hearing impaired", some object as it describes the condition in terms of a deficiency?



Thank you.



Kindest Regards,

Laura

[1] https://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/low-vision-a11y-tf/wiki/Overview_of_Low_Vision#Overview_of_Low_Vision


[2] http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/access/who/#words