Dear List Members:
As for language concerning the Accessibility issue, what I firmly believe we
need to do is
1) Go positive
2) Go PEOPLE .. It's all about PEOPLE, INDIVIDUALS, our DIVERSITY as people
For the principal issue we are facing is that we, self-identifying Members of
the Class [MOCs ... everyone else has yet to self-identify], are not perceived
as people, but are perceived as the labels we bear: disabled inanimate objects
like a disabled smoke detector that we throw away in the trash. We are one of
the largest minorities on this planet - and everyone joins the crowd sooner or
later, but on the map of humanity, MOCs are nowhere to be found.
No one (including ourselves) would spend a second, an ounce worth of effort,
paying attention to or spending a cent on something, for instance, an
automobile, a kitchen appliance, a soda machine, a computer, etc. that by
dictionary definition and by a sign posted on it does not work, that is
incapacitated, inoperable, damaged, is invalid or is out of
order/"disordered."
So why should we expect anyone to pay attention to us people
who have the same exact ultra-negative labels - and so the same exact
perceived worth? To be timely: "Paralympics" means by definition "beside
the olympics or "incorrect, abnormal olympics." Do we really expect network TV
to televise the "Paralympic" Games (March 7th, Salt Lake City
www.paralympics2002.com/) like they did the other Olympics?
Answer: We shouldn't.
Change the language. Change the perception. P.S. It is not an overnight
process. Everything in life takes time. Patience.
As long as we use "dis--, impairment, handicap, disorder, etc. language - even
in most preferable people-first language, we are associating ourselves with
negative thoughts and negative perceptions. We as people naturally DISassociate
ourselves from the negative and gravitate to the positive. Positive works for
Madison Avenue, it can work for us. This is NOT a matter of being PC. It is a
matter of getting what we want, what everyone wants: ACCESSIBILITY.
EQUITY OF ACCESS. CIVIL [=PEOPLE] RIGHTS.
Reframe the issue in positive terms: Accessibility, Access, Equity of Access,
Intellectual Freedom, People with [ ] Differences (see:
www.hellofriend.org/ see: www.cyberwink.com/ ) CELEBRATE DIVERSITY. The
universal diversity of doing things differently (differability). We all do
things differently, and whether by birth, accident, illness, lifestyle choice,
natural disaster, war/terrorism, or simply by aging - which we all seem to be
doing -, we all are MOCs. Everyone needs access. Accessibility is a golden,
"everybody" issue.
We need to take the lead by introducing positive language into what we write
and how we speak. It will take time, but positive advocacy does work. Due to
our positive advocacy, the Library of Congress chose People First language
See: http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/wls01/awls0146.html
A for Accessibility. Positive Wins. Every Time.
THIS Friday, March 1st: Deadline for the ASCLA Century Scholarship for 2002.
Have you recruited/applied for the ASCLA Century Scholarship today?
Celebrating a New Century that Celebrates Diversity...
http://www.ala.org/ascla/centuryscholarship.html
----------------------
Ellen Perlow, MOC
Chair, ALA ASCLA Century Scholarship Committee
The ALA ASCLA Century Scholarship Diversity Initiative
"Celebrating a New Century that Celebrates Diversity"
http://www.ala.org/ascla/centuryscholarship.html
Next Submission Deadline: March 1, 2002
See Also: ALA HRDR Page: http://www.ala.org/hrdr/scholarship.html
Texas Century Scholarship: http://www.txla.org/html/awards/scholar/century.html
Have YOU recruited/applied to be a Century Scholarship applicant today?
----------------------------------------------------
Manager of Information Services
School of Library and Information Studies
Texas Woman's University
P.O. Box 425438
Denton, TX 76204-5438
Tel.: 940-898-2622 Fax: 940-898-2611
Web: http://twu.edu/~s_perlow/
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
> Tanya:
> What do you think about just inundating them with the following website,
> part of the APA style guide? Does it cover what editors/assistant
> editors need to know on the topic? Is it too simple? Would it be
> better or worse than a complete kit?
> http://www.apastyle.org/disabilities.html
> Best!
> /anna
> Anna Ercoli Schnitzer
> Information Services Librarian
> Taubman Medical Library
> University of Michigan
> Ann Arbor MI 48109
> [log in to unmask]
> Tanya Feddern wrote:
> > Hello, again. Maybe someone's already working on this (like Ellen?),
> > but is there a short kit on how to write about disability and on using
> > people-first language that we can create and mail to the editors (&
> > assistant editors) of library science, information science, and
> > computer science journals? I'm tired of seeing "handicapped" and
> > "disabled" used for headlines, captions, and in articles. Perhaps
> > this would be an effective way of heading it off.
> >
> > TanyaTanya Feddern, MLIS, MOT,
> > OTR/Lhttp://www.geocities.com/nqiya/index.html
> > Reference & Education Librarian
> > University of Miami School of Medicine
> > Louis Calder Memorial Library
> >
> >
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com.
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Tanya:
<p>What do you think about just inundating them with the following website,
part of the APA style guide? Does it cover what editors/assistant
editors need to know on the topic? Is it too simple? Would
it be better or worse than a complete kit?
<p><A HREF="http://www.apastyle.org/disabilities.html">http://www.apastyle.org/disabilities.html</A>
<p>Best!
<p>/anna
<br>Anna Ercoli Schnitzer
<br>Information Services Librarian
<br>Taubman Medical Library
<br>University of Michigan
<br>Ann Arbor MI 48109
<br>[log in to unmask]
<br>
<br>
<br>
<p>Tanya Feddern wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>
<div style='background-color:'>Hello, again. Maybe someone's already
working on this (like Ellen?), but is there a short kit on how to write
about disability and on using people-first language that we can create
and mail to the editors (& assistant editors) of library science, information
science, and computer science journals? I'm tired of seeing "handicapped"
and "disabled" used for headlines, captions, and in articles. Perhaps
this would be an effective way of heading it off.
<p>TanyaTanya Feddern, MLIS, MOT, OTR/Lhttp://www.geocities.com/nqiya/index.html
<br>Reference & Education Librarian
<br>University of Miami School of Medicine
<br>Louis Calder Memorial Library</div>
<p><br>
<hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href="http://go.msn.com/bql/hmtag_etl_EN.asp">http://explorer.msn.com</a>.</blockquote>
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