¶ … Handicapped:' a substitute word or phrase that communicates a more positive attitude toward people with disabilities The difficulties we have in talking about people with disabilities are not simply failures of language. They also reflect the difficulties exhibited by members of our society in terms of thinking about what it means to be disabled. As noted in the essay "What's in a name: The use of first person language," author Scott Modell notes that we would not speak of someone with classes as a 'glasses-wearing friend' or a 'hearing-aid wearing friend' but we often speak of a disabled child as a blind child or a deaf child. This suggests that when someone has a disability, we have a tendency as a society to reduce that person to the status of his or her disability, rather than see the person simply as a unique individual. Everyone has, within his or her character, certain differences and...

However, certain qualities known as 'disabilities' have been given additional prominence and are often used to single out certain students within the school system in a negative fashion.
Students with disabilities have genuine 'additional' needs, and educators must be able to speak about those needs without seeming to engage in reductive language. Using 'person-first' wording, says Modell, is required. Saying 'a person who is blind,' or 'a person with autism,' versus a 'blind person' or 'autistic person' is preferred. Instead of saying that an office is 'handicapped accessible,' simply say that the office is accessible. Speak of additional needs not problems. Of course, some might protest it is best not to speak about such differences at all, but ignoring differences does not support students' needs either. Simply treating every child…