Anne shared the link to this blog with me today. I took a moment to read a few of her Passionate Posts and I want to share this one with you. I would never correct anyone, but this sort of things bothers me too. Just so you know.
Oh, and when a professional does it; that's the worst.
On Your Vocabulary
Hi. When I'm in the room, please try to use people first vocabulary, for example "child with Down syndrome" instead of "Down's baby."Also, please try very very hard to avoid telling me about "these kids" and what they're like. For example, do not tell me how much you love "these kids" because they're so sweet and cuddly and wait for me to respond like you just said something nice. You didn't. Just for fun, toss the name of another marginalized group in there, like a racial minority for example, and read the sentence again. Offensive, right?
Get this. My child is unique. Being a girl doesn't mean that she'll love to cook. Being white doesn't mean anything about her athletic abilities. And having Down syndrome doesn't mean that she'll be just exactly like every other child with Down syndrome. We like to think that the non-duplicated vast majority of her genes (all of which come from her father and me, by the way) have something to do with who she is too, and that's not to mention the parts of her personality that will develop because of the experience she has and the way she's being raised.
Now go tell all of your friends. Thank you.
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