We talked to the people we support - adults with developmental disabilities - about labels and why we use them. Its a convenient way to refer to groups of people. Our 'staff' members are also our 'employees' and they are also 'Community Support Specialists.' None of those labels changes who they are or what their job is. Our consumers talked it over and voted unanimously to call themselves clients. As far as 'mental retardation,' again its a way to refer to a condition affecting a person. None of our clients are offended by the condition label any more than people with diabetes are offended by being labeled as 'diabetics.' I really wish people would get over the whole labeling thing and get on with providing taining to staff on how to support our clients in a meaningful way. |