Explain how person-first language can help social workers to better serve their clients and negate stigma regarding people with special needs.

What will be an ideal response?


Because words are very powerful, the language we use to refer to people with physical, mental, and developmental conditions shapes our beliefs and ideas about them. Old, inaccurate, and inappropriate descriptors perpetuate negative stereotypes and attitudinal barriers. When we describe people by their labels or medical diagnoses, we devalue and disrespect them as people. In contrast, if we use thoughtful terminology, we can foster positive attitudes about people with physical, mental, or development challenges. One of the major improvements in communicating with and about people with special needs is person-first language,which emphasizes the person, not the challenging condition. For example, we refer to a person with a special need rather than "a disabled person." Saying our client is living with schizophrenia is more empowering than saying "our schizophrenic client." Instead of describing a person as "wheelchair bound," we could say that he lives with a mobility disability or is a person that requires a wheelchair. By placing the person first, the physical or cognitive challenge is no longer the primary, defining characteristic of the individual but just one of several aspects of the whole person. Person-first language is an objective way of acknowledging, communicating, and reporting on disabilities. It eliminates generalizations and stereotypes.

Social Work & Human Services

You might also like to view...

When social scientists conduct interviews, it is required by the ethics of the field that the social scientist

receives "informed consent." What is "informed consent"? A) when funding agencies give the "go ahead" to begin the research that is being funded B) getting permission from other researchers to use non-random sampling C) getting permission to conduct the interview after having given the respondent some information about research/interview D) getting permission to talk to respondents about their sexual behaviors

Social Work & Human Services

Discuss two (2) ways by which transformational leadership style can be relevant to the management of the crisis at all levels of management

What will be an ideal response?

Social Work & Human Services

Julie's study investigates the effect of gender on snack choice in college students. Subjects are individually brought into a lab at the same time each day and presented with eight snack options commonly found in grocery stores. Julie records which snack each subject eats, if any. Her study has:

a. a full experiment design. b. a correlational design. c. a quasi-experimental design. d. a single-case experimental design.

Social Work & Human Services

Which of the following is true of the archive known as the Human Relations Area Files?

A) Its collections have been indexed to make them easier to consult. B) It specializes in providing information on social problems in societies around the world. C) It is available only to qualified researchers. D) It contains information only on present societies.

Social Work & Human Services