[Reader-list] Thoughts on disability and respectful language

[Chandni Parekh]

http://psychologynews.posterous.com/thoughts-on-disability-and-respectful-languag

Excerpts from Amanda's post:

Before we go any further, you guys are going to need a quick tutorial
on *models
of disability*.

That said, I’d like to take a moment to establish a point regarding
respectful language.

When at all possible, I prefer to use the term “condition” rather than words
like illness, disease, disorder — which require the assumption that
something is *wrong* with the person. The word “condition” has a
more-or-less neutral connotation, in my experience, which allows me to
describe the *condition* (see what I did there?) of a person’s body and/or
mind without loading them down with all the detritus attached to the medical
model, which assumes *deviance* over *variance*.