References

American Medial Association (2007).

AMA manual of style: A guide for
Person-
authors and editors (10thedn).
Oxford, UK: Oxford University First
Language
Press.
American Psychological Association
(2010). Publication manual of
the American Psychological As
sociation (6th edn). Washington Treating people with
DC: Author.
Jensen, M., Pease, E., Lambert, K., disabilities with respect,
Hickman, D., Robinson, O.,
dignity, and understanding.
McCoy, K., Moller, M. (2013).
Championing person-first lan
guage: A call to psychiatric men
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American Psychiatric Nurses
Association, 19(3), 146-151.
Texas Council for Developmental Disa
bilities. (2015, August 21). Peo
ple First Language. Retrieved
from http://www.tcdd.texas.gov/
resources/people-first-language/
Tobin, M., M.E.d. (2011, May 23). Put
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-me-first-the-importance-of-person-
Who is a Person
with a Disability?
According to the Americans with
Disabilities Act, “a disability exists
when an individual has any physical
or psychological illness that
‘substantially limits’ a major life ac-
tivity, such as walking, learning,
breathing, working, or participating
in community activities.”
What is Person-
First Language?
Person-first language places emphasis on
the person first, rather than the disability
by placing the noun referring to a person
or persons before the phrase referring to
a disability. For example, “children with
autism” as opposed to “autistic chil-
dren”.
Person-first language is the opposite of
identity-first language wherein the disa-
bility comes before the person.
Why Person-First
Language?
According to the American Medial
Association (2007), the idea be-
hind person-first language is to
“put the person first” and “avoid
labeling, and this equating people,
with their disabilities.”
“Person-first language is
a philosophy of putting in-
dividuals before their
disability.”
Choose your
words carefully:
 Don’t equate a person with a disa-
bility. Use people-first language to
tell what a person has, not what a
person is.
 Emphasize abilities, not limitations.
For example, “the woman moves
with a wheelchair” rather than “the
woman is paralyzed”.
 Avoid words such as afflicted with,
suffers, victim, or unfortunate
which imply tragedy.
 Do not refer to a person as bound
to or confined to a wheelchair.
Wheelchairs liberating as they pro-
vide mobility.
 Promote understanding, respect,
dignity and positivity.
 If you are unsure what to say or
how to say it, simply ask.