DISABILITIES

By Daniel J. Vance

Kathie Snow of Woodland Park, Colorado, became an advocate for people with disabilities after her son Benjamin's birth. Today, she authors books and travels the U.S. speaking about disability, and in one month-long stretch this year addressed audiences in North Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Washington, Connecticut, Illinois, and Ohio.

Today, her 21-year-old, wheelchair-using son, who was born with cerebral palsy, is majoring in film and television at college, has been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and wants to be a film critic, “the next Roger Ebert,” said 57-year-old Snow in a telephone interview.

The United Cerebral Palsy website claims about 750,000 Americans have cerebral palsy, which is caused by brain injury occurring near or during birth. It affects the brain's ability to control muscle movement, and usually not intelligence.

“I prefer saying Benjamin's brain was permanently injured, rather than damaged,” said Snow. “Because in our society, we get rid of and throw out damaged things.”

Many other words people often say when referring to people with disabilities bother Snow, too. For instance: birth defect.

“Instead of birth defect,” she said, “I prefer saying a person was born with a congenital disability. There's no worse thing we can do to a newborn baby than say they are defective. That word has an effect on us. For one, it causes parents to push the panic button.”

She mentioned that many words used as insults today, such as idiot, moron, retard, and imbecile, were actual medical diagnoses used by doctors not long ago to describe people with disabilities.

“There is no greater identity theft than what we (as a society) have done to people with disabilities,” she said. “We often identify them by their diagnosis, such as wheelchair-bound, retarded, or autistic. We put the diagnosis first.”

Rather, Snow is an advocate of “people first” language. For example, instead of referring to a “disabled person,” Snow would say, “the person has a disability.” Though this subtle word difference may not seem important to some, most people with disabilities (rather than, “disabled people”) regard the distinction as critical.

“We are not our disabilities,” explained Snow. “We are people first.”

As for Benjamin: In 2006, he was one of five winners, and the only one having a disability, in a USA Today-sponsored, national film contest. His winning 60-second film: “Thumbs Down for Pity.”

Contact danieljvance.com [All American Foods and Palmer Bus Service grants made this column possible.]