Person First Language

During the first week of being an AmeriCorps member, I have already had two cultural sensitivity seminars (one during pre-service orientation and the other during my first POW WOW meeting).

I will say that both were pretty interesting and surprisingly covered different topics.  During the POW WOW lunch the moderator gave us a card with either a word or a definition and as a group we had to match the two.  My word, well it was a phrase, was "Person First Language" or the idea that you first talk about the person and then the condition.  Thankfully I was able to successfully match my phrase with the definition with no hesitation because it is something that Alex has drilled into my head over the last few years. 

The thinking behind this structure is that a person's attribute, in this case medical condition and/or disability, is the secondary attribute and NOT necessarily a part of their identity.  For example:

• The child with Autism NOT the Autistic child
• The woman who is homeless (i.e. does not have a home) NOT to the homeless woman

I can say that the last one sparked quite a discussion among the clinicians and case managers who attended the lunch.   Many discussed that their pet peeve was when people used the word homeless as the primary attribute of a person. 

So what are some of your thoughts on Person First Language?  Is it a valid concern inside and outside the clinic or just another way for people to be PC?