| One of the most difficult areas facing those of us with | | | | have to rely on memory. |
| a disability, and/or those of us living with a chronic | | | | INFORMATION TO GIVE TO OTHERS ON HOW TO |
| illness, is COMMUNICATION!! We have to | | | | TREAT YOU (the person with the disability) as a |
| communicate with others - family, medical care, friends, | | | | PERSON, NOT AN ILLNESS |
| strangers, etc. AND, they have to be able to | | | | Again, the following information has been gleaned from |
| communicate with us. So, the better we can | | | | a variety of sources. |
| communicate with others, the better off we will be in | | | | The way a person refers to persons with disabilities |
| soliciting, receiving, and giving help. AND, if you are like | | | | shapes his/her beliefs and ideas about that person. |
| me, you were raised to GIVE help, not to get it! You | | | | Using appropriate terms can foster positive attitudes |
| were the caregiver; being on the receiving end is very | | | | about persons with disabilities. One of the major |
| hard to do. | | | | improvements in communicating with and about people |
| This blog is seperated into two distinct areas. The first | | | | with disabilities is "people-first" language. People-first |
| is a way to assist us better communicate what is | | | | language emphasizes the person, not the disability. By |
| going on with us, to others. The second part is | | | | placing the person first, the disability is no longer the |
| information designed to literally "hand" to others, so that | | | | primary, defining characteristic of an individual but one |
| they know how to communicate with us as an actual | | | | of several aspects of the whole person. |
| "person" and not as a "disease". | | | | For example, it is preferred to say, "people with |
| To start off, I found this great website in Australia, | | | | disabilities" instead of "the disabled"; or "Mary has a |
| designed to "link" folks together who have disabilities | | | | vision impairment" , or, "Mary is vision-impaired" instead |
| and disability needs. The acronym used is "TEAM". It | | | | of labeling the person by saying, "Mary is blind." |
| means: Together, Everyone Achieves More! I love this | | | | An exception to this rule is for people who are deaf or |
| concept, and thought you might also. | | | | hard of hearing. In general, the deaf community does |
| So, how in the world do you document all about | | | | not like to be referred to as having hearing |
| YOU?? Well, if you are intending to use the information | | | | impairments. It prefers deaf or hard of hearing. Use |
| in obtaining your disability insurances, I recommend the | | | | "hard of hearing" to refer to people who have hearing |
| Workbook that we offer at The attachments in the | | | | loss but communicate in spoken language. "People with |
| Workbook allow you to document your symptoms, | | | | hearing loss" is also considered acceptable. Many |
| and have actual examples of forms and letters that | | | | people who are deaf and communicate with sign |
| you can use in your process, as well as the actual | | | | language consider themselves to be members of a |
| "How-To" process. | | | | cultural and linguistic minority. They refer to themselves |
| Additionally, I havae found this fantastic website, | | | | as Deaf with a capital "D" and may be offended by |
| originating from the State of Washington. It shows you | | | | the term "hearing impaired." Many Deaf do not believe |
| a model of communicating to all about "you". Unlike the | | | | the condition to be an impairment. |
| disabilitykey Workbook, it does not provide you with | | | | If someone has diabetes, they are a person first, with |
| the actual forms. However, if you are computer-savvy | | | | diabetes. Please do not refer to them as "the Diabetic", |
| enough, you can duplicate the pages yourself. Included | | | | unless this is how they wish to be refered to (and you |
| are the following sections: | | | | know this because you have asked them ahead of |
| Care Teams | | | | time). I, for example, am a vibrant, wordy person who |
| About Me | | | | loves to read and work with people, who happens to |
| Diagnoses | | | | have Multiple Sclerosis. It is a condition that I have; it |
| Next Steps | | | | does not define me. |
| Health Log | | | | If you don’t know the appropriate words to use, |
| Medications | | | | simply ask the person what is preferred. |
| Reactions | | | | Lastly, let's talk about "relationships" in general. If you |
| History | | | | are dealing with a disability, and/or with managing a |
| Advanced Directives | | | | chronic illness, it is CRITICAL that you NOT cut |
| I'd add one more section, personally, about family, | | | | yourself off from others. Life is very precious, and, as |
| friends, relatives, etc. | | | | we discussed in the quality of life blog, living well is and |
| Here's the link: [ | | | | should be, the goal of us all. |
| You now know how important it is to document all the | | | | If you have any additional questions about |
| information about YOU. Now you can share it with | | | | communications or disability relationships, please |
| others. Once documented, all you have to do is update | | | | comment and we'll tap into our collective wisdom! |
| the information, as it changes. In this way, you do not | | | | |