{"id":60152,"date":"2015-12-18T10:47:38","date_gmt":"2015-12-18T08:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/mind-your-language-talking-about-children-with-disabilities-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2015-12-18T10:47:38","modified_gmt":"2015-12-18T08:47:38","slug":"mind-your-language-talking-about-children-with-disabilities-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/mind-your-language-talking-about-children-with-disabilities-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Mind your language: talking about children with disabilities | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"
The language used to talk about children with disabilities must be changed before attitudes will shift.<\/span> Siegfried Modola\/Reuters<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is a strong link between language and thinking. The language we use reflects the way we think about things and, in turn, ways of thinking are made possible by the language we use. A report released after South Africa\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which gave survivors of apartheid the chance to share their stories and perpetrators the opportunity to testify and request amnesty, said:<\/p>\n

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Language \u2026 does things: it constructs social categories, it gives orders, it persuades us, it justifies, explains, gives reasons, excuses. It constructs reality.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What this means is that how people talk about others is very important, not least when they are people with disabilities, difficulties and disorders. This was acknowledged in the US, for instance, when President Barack Obama passed Rosa\u2019s Law in 2010. The law removes the term \u201cmental retardation\u201d from legislation and replaces it with \u201cintellectual disability\u201d. Obama quoted Rosa\u2019s brother, saying:<\/p>\n

\n

What you call people is how you treat them. If we change the words, maybe it will be the start of a new attitude towards people with disabilities.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The words we use to disable<\/h2>\n

We easily recognise offensive terms such as \u201cretard\/rete\u201d, \u201cspaz\u201d, \u201ccrip\u201d or \u201cmidget\u201d. But we don\u2019t always recognise the more subtle work language does in constructing categories of others.<\/p>\n

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is an example. ADHD has become something of a household term as many parents and teachers have become familiar with this condition. The language used to describe children with an ADHD diagnosis is a constellation of terms from medicine, behaviour management and education.<\/p>\n

When children with an ADHD diagnosis are described in medical terms, the language is of disease with symptoms, diagnosis and treatment regimes. The child who struggles to pay attention becomes a patient. His \u2013 boys are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD \u2013 behaviours are scrutinised and compared with what is regarded as \u201cnormal\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cADHD behaviours\u201d are described as being highly problematic and disruptive to the smooth running of classrooms. Research into the way language is used for ADHD shows children with this diagnosis being called \u201cboisterous\u201d and \u201cdifficult to manage\u201d.<\/p>\n

One textbook warns teachers that these children have a tendency to do unruly things like \u201cthrow tantrums\u201d or \u201cthrow stones\u201d. Other sources for teachers and parents speak of children with ADHD as \u201cmonsters\u201d or \u201cbrats\u201d. Perhaps it is little wonder that some teachers have a low tolerance for children who don\u2019t sit still and concentrate for extended periods.<\/p>\n

But people don\u2019t just talk negatively about<\/em> children with an ADHD diagnosis. Language is used to ensure that ADHD is more than a diagnosis: it is an identity. Sometimes it defines children, like when we say, \u201cthe ADHD child\u201d. In some cases, ADHD becomes a child\u2019s identity: parents and teachers say the child \u201cis ADHD\u201d.<\/p>\n

These observations are not meant to deny the very real experiences of children and their families who struggle to cope with the demands of schooling in its current form. Learning and social interaction can be severely affected by concentration difficulties, whatever their cause.<\/p>\n

The problem I am highlighting is how we talk about others, or other people\u2019s children, particularly when they\u2019re not regarded as fitting into what\u2019s considered \u201cnormal\u201d. Judging \u201cnormal\u201d usually involves deciding how \u201clike us\u201d others are.<\/p>\n

Speaking of children with disabilities as foreigners<\/h2>\n

A report compiled in 2015 by Human Rights Watch accused South Africa of being complicit in the educational exclusion of children with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Section27, a public interest law centre focusing on health and education rights, released a report about educational provisions for children with disabilities in special schools. It noted that understanding disability relies a lot on how it is spoken about in society.<\/p>\n

The language used to speak about children with disabilities is not unlike the language South Africans use to talk about foreigners. During the xenophobic violence witnessed at the beginning of 2015, a journalist commented that South Africans are:<\/p>\n

\n

\u2026 accustomed to talking about the \u201cother\u201d \u2026 the idea of something called \u201cus\u201d and something called \u201cthem\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In introducing White Paper Six, South Africa\u2019s policy on inclusive education, in 2001 the then-education minister said:<\/p>\n

\n

Let us work together to nurture our people with disabilities so that they also experience the full excitement and the joy of learning, and to provide them, and our nation, with a solid foundation for lifelong learning and development.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In this statement, people with disabilities are clearly \u201cthey\u201d and \u201cthem\u201d as opposed to \u201cus\u201d.<\/p>\n

Like visitors or foreigners, who do not belong by right of birth, children with disabilities must be \u201cwelcomed\u201d into the education system. There they must be \u201caccommodated\u201d and their needs \u201ccatered for\u201d. In some cases the parents of children without disabilities resist this in a kind of educational xenophobia. It has been reported that some parents complain that children with disabilities take up too much of the teacher\u2019s time at their own children\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n

Language matters<\/h2>\n

It matters when language is used to speak about others as problems, challenges or as the object of pity or charity.<\/p>\n

Changing our language will not immediately change the conditions of children with disabilities in South Africa nor the country\u2019s attitudes towards disability. But the conditions and attitudes are unlikely to change if our language does not.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Elizabeth Walton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more on:<\/strong> The Conversation \u2013 Articles (AFRICA)<\/a>
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Read more on The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The language used to talk about children with disabilities must be changed before attitudes will shift. Siegfried Modola\/Reuters There is a strong link between language and thinking. The language we use reflects the way we think about things and, in turn, ways of thinking are made possible by the language we use. A report released […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[3678,8292,8890,10016,5789,9087,10015],"class_list":{"0":"post-60152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-about","8":"tag-children","9":"tag-conversation","10":"tag-disabilities","11":"tag-language","12":"tag-mind","13":"tag-talking","14":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}