Person-First Terminology In Special Needs Planning

For those estate planning attorneys and allied professionals who have little experience advising families with special needs issues, one of the biggest challenges is learning, appreciating and using “person-first” terminology when referencing the beneficiary with a disability and his consequent special needs. It does not matter how technically proficient an advisor may be if he or she alienates the client by utilizing outdated and disparaging terminology to refer to the person with the disabling condition.

Just as the “N-word” offends most people of good will, so too does the “R-word” (“retard” or “retarded”), which has only recently gained a similarly offensive status. State and federal statutes are increasingly amended to replace all forms of the “R-word” with more respectful terminology. A client of mine with the patience of Job illustrated the concept of person-first terminology as follows: “I don’t have a disabled daughter; I have a daughter with a disability. She isn’t “wheelchair-bound;” she uses a wheelchair to get around. She is not a “Downs child;” she’s a child who has Down Syndrome. She’s not “mentally retarded;” she “has a cognitive disability.” Her siblings without disabilities aren’t “normal;” they are “typical.” Using person-first terminology may seem cumbersome and unnatural at first.

Clients, however do take notice of those who successfully integrate this concept into normal speech. In time, the old terms that emphasized the disability first, instead of the person first, will become as offensive to the attorney, and to the other allied professionals with whom they work, as they have been to these families.

Overcoming this challenge will completely transform the way a family relates to, and communicates with, their professional advisors.

For a handy “cheat sheet” on the proper terminology to use when referring to individuals with disabilities, visit www.tcdd.texas.gov and download a wonderful “People First Language” handout (in English and Spanish) developed by the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities. See also John Folkins, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, The Language Used to Describe Individuals with Disabilities (Dec. 1992), available at http://www.asha.org/publications/journals/submissions/person_first.htm.

Kristen M. Lewis, Esq., Member of the Special Needs Alliance and Fellow of the American Academy of Trust and Estate Counsel