Re: Political Correctness and the Writer

[Geoffrey Brown <geoffrey -at- SOFTMED -dot- COM>]

Regarding labels such as handicapped, disabled, crippled, etc.,
a writer should avoid them not because they may give offense
but because they are not specific enough in most uses.

If you can't walk or move your arms, then you are paralyzed.
If you have CP, you may have to deal with a different set of
obstacles altogether. Describing someone as "mentally
retarded" does not say whether that person has Down's
Syndrome and can work and live alone, or whether he or she is
so profoundly affected that speech is impossible.

Only in the most general references should a writer use a
broad, categorical word such as "disabled" -- I would argue this
is never appropriate when writing about an individual.

Using more general, softer terms in a conversation is different,
of course, and often necessary. I have a co-worker whose son
is smaller than the kids his age and slower at school -- in
today's language he is "developmentally delayed" -- but Diane
calls him "special," and that's fine with me.

But in writing, you should always use the most specific,
descriptive words possible. And preciseness in language usually
gets right around the political correctness debate.

-- Geoff Brown
geoffrey -at- softmed -dot- com

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