Reply to Bethany Azad's post:based off this comment Bethany, It is very important to also be careful in the wording.
In my generation, it was commonplace to refer to a person with a seizure disorder as an epileptic. A person with autism was called autistic, and not a person in the autism spectrum. There was the "deaf kid" in school, and there was always the "handicapped kid". It's remarkable to look back on those times and realize that our approaches were very dehumanizing, and because of this, it probably clouded the ability of the educational community of the time to see the true human potential within every person.
Placing people first puts a better focus on ability and less on the disability.
It's nice to be able to have the influence of current thought and societal norms when we look at people for who they are as people and not for who they are as a cluster of limitations and diagnoses. I am starting to believe, through this training, that once we look beyond things that may be limitations of one's disabilities, we begin to develop, intrinsically, and new mindset where that levelled playing field leaves noone on the sidelines.
