Identity-first Language
Identity-first language is a way of talking about disability. When we use identity-first language, we say ‘disabled people’ rather than ‘people with disabilities’. Many disabled people prefer identity-first language because disability is an important aspect of their identity and not something to be ashamed of. Many autistic people, for example, strongly prefer to be referred to as an autistic person, not a person with autism, because autism can’t be separated from who they are as a person. Some disabled people also argue that the phrase ‘people with disabilities’ doesn’t make sense because people are disabled by society, so disability is not an attribute an individual person can have.
defined by Lysette Chaproniere
Lysette Chaproniere - she/her
Lysette Chaproniere
Lysette Chaproniere has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Glasgow. In her thesis, she explored the relationship between disability and human enhancement technology, that is, the sorts of technologies we might use to significantly increase our physical, cognitive and other abilities, or lengthen the human lifespan. After her PhD, she worked as part of a research group that produced a policy paper on the use of virtual reality in education, where she was involved in researching the challenges and opportunities of VR for disabled students.