“Autistic” vs. “Person with Autism”: Let’s Talk about Disability Language
Source: EDUCATION MEDIA SPOTLIGHT / By Nancy DeVault / January 18, 2023
Disability isn’t a taboo topic — at least it shouldn’t be. Yet when talking about it, select terms are often perceived as taboo. Interestingly, there’s much deliberation within the disability community — and specific sectors within it — regarding which expressions are (and are not) offensive. Words like cripple, handicapped, high/low-functioning, impairment, special needs and wheelchair-bound are considered demeaning by some, but not others. And within the autism community, people are debating the use of “autistic” versus “person with autism.” It’s time to chat about disability language…
"His physician recommended piano lessons as a possibility to work on hand strengthening, and through the family fund, we were able to pay for those services through piano lessons," explained Regina. "So he's been taking piano lessons for the last several years as a way of strengthening his hands, but it is also teaching them a skill."
Clockwise from left: Fifth-grader Noah Schott speaks with teacher Heidi Keiper about ideas for Evergreen Elementary’s upcoming student newspaper as Ray Kashtok, Edsel Siira, Ryder Thomspon and Rebecca Cramer listen and also offer ideas on Dec. 11 at the school in north Spokane.
The special educational needs and disabilities (Send) problem does not lie in the legal framework, which from the 1981 Education Act on, through several iterations in law, has provided a legal entitlement for children with Send to receive the provision required to meet those needs.
For members of the legislature’s Education Committee, the 2025 legislative session will bring back perennial debates over funding, classroom safety and teacher hiring and retention. But this year, committee leaders have also pledged to make concerted efforts to address special education funding and services — costs that can account for as much as a quarter or more of some public school districts’ budgets.
Medicare Advantage special needs plan (SNP) beneficiaries were more likely to use lower-quality hospices than those enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare. Fee-for-service beneficiaries and those enrolled in regular Medicare Advantage sought care at hospices of similar quality, the study found. Referral networks also played a key role in patients’ hospice choice when it comes to quality, according to the research.
The department’s withdrawal of the Medicaid proposal is a blow to school administrators, who have long criticized the lengthy bureaucratic process that makes it more difficult for schools to use available funds to help students with mental health and medical needs and receive services to address them at school.
Our study disseminated a Qualtric survey which included an open-ended question, “Please describe in your own words your experience with COVID-19.” and solicited open textual responses about the lived experience of people with disabilities. This study focuses on the textual data that was analyzed using inductive content analysis (Elo & Kyngas, 2008).
Parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have told the BBC they are still unable to attend school full time, four months after cuts to transport provision at a council came into force. Birmingham City Council is making more than £300m savings over two years after effectively declaring itself bankrupt in September 2023.
A temporary hub for children with special educational needs could be made permanent following a two-year delay to the opening of a special school. Initially expected to welcome pupils in 2025, a free school offering to meet social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH) in South Tyneside will now not open until September 2027.
Cobey Thomas cannot stop using his custom-built swing set. Cobey, who is 6-foot-10 and 200 pounds, has nonverbal autism, and swinging is his "thing," his mom Jenifer Thomas tells CBS News. He's always been big, but there was a point when Cobey became too big for normal swing sets, and he was distraught.