Sensitivity in words shows sensitivity toward people.
My friend and brother, Dr. Dave Deuel, Senior Research Fellow – Policy and Publishing – of
The Christian Institute on Disability of Joni and Friends asked me to publish the style guide for “Writing and Speaking about Disability in Biblical Counseling Ministry.” I offer this guide at Warp and Woof for the instructional help of many and the encouragement of all.
Last year’s BCC Summit focused on persons with disabilities in biblical counseling. As a follow up, here are some tips that may help in your writing and speaking about persons with disabilities in biblical counseling:
1. Address matters of access, functional needs, and inclusion. Access is the ability to get to where you want to go without encountering physical, attitudinal, or other barriers. Functional needs are those needs which, when met, allow a person with a disability to live and function independently in the least restrictive environment. Inclusion is the capacity to fit into social structures and receive acceptance in every context. Another useful term might be “belonging.”
2. Use people-first language. For example, rather than talking about “the disabled girl,” use a relative clause such as “the girl that has a disability” or a prepositional phrase such as “the girl with a disability.” In general, try to talk about people with disabilities rather than disability in abstraction.
3. Avoid outdated or pejorative terminology. Try to avoid terminology and concepts that have become offensive (“retarded,” “handicapped,” “Mongoloid,” “special,” and “crippled,” to name a few). For example, use the descriptor intellectual disability rather than mental retardation. The most accepted terms are: person affected by/with a disability, intellectual disability, developmental disability, and physical disability.
4. Use statistical data and poll results with caution. Be careful how you use statistics and polls about disability (“the CDC says that 20% of Americans have disabilities” must be changed to 26%).
5. Incorporate disability into your image composition. Include children and adults with disabilities in your illustrations, graphics, and photos, using images that show persons with disabilities in a positive light—not always receiving but also doing ministry.
6. Include disability messages of all sizes. Make inclusive disability allusions in words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs—not just articles and books. Make disability common in publications and other messages.
7. Focus on persons with disabilities as blessings from God:
• Who they are: We tend to describe persons with disabilities in terms of deficits. For example, a person with Down syndrome has poor muscle tone and intellectual disability. Instead, you might also describe persons with Down syndrome as friendly, loving, and fun to be around.
• What they do: How do persons with disabilities serve an individual, family, or church? Connect their ministry with their calling and gifting as you would anyone.
8. Be creative in writing about persons with disabilities. For example, address the following:
• Challenges that people with disabilities face and biblical solutions addressing those challenges.
• Stories of persons with disabilities who have ministered to others, particularly others without
disabilities
• Testimonies of persons with disabilities who have been helped by biblical counseling and discipleship
9. Speak to the heart. Probe deeply into heart issues for persons with disabilities, because in many cases the disability itself is neither the whole nor necessarily the most significant part of a person’s spiritual challenges. In all efforts to communicate with and serve persons with disabilities, strive to include them as you would a person without a disability, making reasonable accommodation where necessary. Most crucially, love and appreciate them.
Dave and his sweet daughter, Joanna. Feel free to contact Dr. Dave Deuel at ddeuel@joniandfriends.org
Featured and inserted picture credit: Snappy Goat
Hi, Mark.
I trust you are doing well.
I appreciate you posting this article. I merely breezed through the main points, but agree with each one.
As a person with three clinically diagnosed disabilities, none of which are physically apparent but which affect my behavior, I understand the frustration that people with disabilities face. I would like to add some insights the Lord has given me regarding my response to disabilities:
1. I have to acknowledge that I have a disability. The ability to do so might vary from individual to individual, but one must first know they are “different” from other people. TBH, this principle and the remaining three apply to “normal” persons as well.
If “normal” people would realize that everyone is different in some way, the world would be a better place. But I don’t “Imagine” that will happen until the Lord returns.
2. I have to know what the disability prevents me from being able to do. Research into the disability or asking others personally always help.
3. I have to ask others to help me accomplish what I cannot do because of the disability. This requires some amount of self-disclosure, which, along with acknowledging that I have the disability and asking for help, requires some humility.
4. I must find out what I can do despite my disability. In some cases, this involves taking measures to accommodate a specific aspect of the disability in order to lessen its impact. I’m an experimenter. I try all kinds of unorthodox means to alleviate the affects of my disabilities.
But I’m mostly thinking about how I can positively impact others. This includes helping others who have similar disabilities, but also entails carrying out a ministry with which the disability does not interfere.
Thanks again for posting this article.