Special Education Word Power People With Disabilities

Special Education

Word Power

People with disabilities comprise a large portion of contemporary society's population base. As such, it would greatly behoove people today to give more consideration to a host of factors that affect those that are disabled, such as the creation and implementation of proper facilities, courteous treatment, and even the language that is used to refer to them. The terminology used to refer to people who happen to have disabilities is examined in a pair of essays authored by Kathie Snow, which are entitled "The Case Against "Special Needs" and "People Language First." The author believes that by changing the language that is used to describe the disabled and the peculiarities that they need, such people will substantially benefit in virtually all aspects of their lives.

The principle thesis that exists in both essays is that the language used to categorize people with disabilities and the specific tools they use has a major impact upon them and their perception of the world. The conventional etymology used to refer to these people is outdated, Snow propounds, and should be replaced by language that takes more pains to consider those that have disabilities as people first, and as disabled or handicapped secondly. Snow spends a great deal of each essay deconstructing the traditional language and their negative effects they have had upon those who are disabled. The author reinforces her concepts largely through emotional appeals, such as the fact that at any point in time most people can have something happen to them that renders them as part of the disabled population set.

A number of arguments proffered by Snow in defense of her central premise are fairly intriguing -- and mostly unsubstantiated. This premise itself -- that the single biggest obstacle for disabled people to overcome is the pejorative language used to describe them and that which they need to function -- is largely unsupported, and leaves one wondering is not a form of retardation that leaves someone intellectually challenged more of a hindrance than a reference to that person that is not politically correct? . In general, the author's conviction could be significantly improved had she added, say, statistical data or examples from history that could defend many of the claims that she makes. These essays move best and her beliefs become more tangible when she does go into detail about them, such as when she describes all of the accomplishments of her son -- before explaining his limitations and how she has managed to work around them.

The author's belief that language has a negative effect -- such as the fact that categorizing someone as special or handicapped inherently evokes pity -- makes a fair amount of sense. However, it would be better if she could offer better examples of how using proper language would boost the self-esteem of these people that she is concerned with. Personally, I found her articles fairly compelling as well as frustrating, the latter principally because I could not all the way believe her because of her limited use of details that reinforced her assertions.