Abstract
Navigating the acronyms and labels when working in schools can be challenging and overwhelming. But knowing the appropriate terminology when working with students with disabilities is an important part of understanding students’ diagnoses, communicating with parents and other school personnel, and engaging in effective teaching practices to foster a culture of inclusion in music classrooms.
Labels Are Necessary
In the 2015 school year, just over 6 million school-age children with disabilities received services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA (U.S. Department of Education, 2017), each student with 1 of 14 disabilities specified in the legislation. These labels qualify a student to receive services under the legislation and include autism, deaf-blindness, deafness, developmental delay, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairment including blindness (IDEA, 2004). Without one of these labels, students cannot receive services under IDEA; however, some students may be able to qualify to receive additional services under other legislation (e.g., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act).
When working with students with disabilities in schools, it is likely that when you receive information about additional services to be provided in your classroom (e.g., extra time on assignments, preferred seating) you will also be given information about a student’s diagnosis. Being aware of the diagnosis may be helpful in researching educational tools and strategies to assist that student, and there is plentiful information online about the traits of someone with a specific disability; however, this information based on their diagnosis will not give you all you need to know to work with the student. In the autism community, there is a saying, “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” Just as all third graders are not the same; neither are all students with a specific disability label. You will need to take time to get to know each student and his or her unique needs beyond the label to effectively include the student in your music classroom.
Person-First Language
At this time, the standard in special education and within disability advocacy communities is to use person-first language. In this philosophy, you place the person before the disability when speaking and writing about that person. So you would say, “a person with developmental disabilities” rather than “a developmentally disabled person.” This promotes that a person is not limited by his or her disability and the disability is not the person’s primary attribute.
The use of person-first language is suggested by the American Psychological Association in academic writing, as well as the American Medical Association, and American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (Dunn & Andrews, 2015; Gernsbacher, 2017). There is also some evidence that when people use person-first language their attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral intentions toward people with disabilities change; people who used less person-first language perceived greater professional, personal, and social distance between themselves and those with disabilities (Feldman, Gordon, White, & Weber, 2002).
Identity-First Language
While person-first terminology has been used for many years, there has been an increase in the use of identity-first language, particularly in some disability communities. For a long time, people who are deaf and consider themselves part of the Deaf community (capital D), identify as “a Deaf person” or “Deaf people” rather than “a person who is deaf” (Darrow, 2013). Similarly, the National Federation for the Blind reject person-first language and have for many years (Dunn & Andrews, 2015) preferring “a blind person” rather than “a person who is blind.”
Recently, as the neurodiversity movement within the autism community has developed, so has the increase of identity-first language among those with autism spectrum disorder. Neurodiversity is “the advocacy position that autism and related conditions are natural variants of human neurological outcomes that should be neither cured nor normalized is based on the assertion that autistic people have unique neurological differences” (Sarrett, 2016, p. 23). As a result, some people with autism are identifying as “autistic” and request that you use “an autistic person” rather than “a person with autism” when speaking about them. This language reflects that autism is an integral part of their identity.
In Your Classroom
Below are some strategies on including appropriate terminology of people with disabilities and fostering a culture of inclusion within your classroom:
When planning, think beyond the label: While the label may give you some idea of how to modify instruction for a specific student, consider using strategies based on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to plan lessons (see Jellison, 2015, for additional information on UDL). The use of UDL promotes strategies that break down barriers and increase access to materials, spaces, and participation for all students.
Model appropriate terminology to your students and correct their misuse of terminology: It can be uncomfortable addressing the misuse of terminology in public settings, but it is necessary in classroom settings to teach students the appropriate terminology. Recently, the social media campaign, “Spread the Word to End the Word” has encouraged people to pledge to stop using the word “retard(ed)”; their website includes materials that could be helpful to teachers (R-word, 2017).
Include musicians and music of people with disabilities and include discussions of their disability when teaching about the musician: When planning lessons, mindfully include artists with disabilities and include discussion about their disability. Artists like Beethoven, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder offer opportunities to discuss hearing and vision loss.
Include discussions of access when planning logistics with your class: Music teachers often have many logistical considerations when planning performances and field trips. Include students as part of those discussions. For example, ask if anyone has a family member who uses a wheelchair when setting up for concerts and then follow-up by ensuring adequate space for those using wheelchairs in your audience.
Terminology to refer to people with disabilities, and even of the disability labels themselves, have evolved over time and likely will continue to (Darrow, 2013; Vergason & Anderegg, 1997); as teachers, it is important that we continue our own education to be aware of the language that is common within these communities. It is also important that we recognize that not all students and families will have the same preference, and you may find yourself switching between person-first and identity-first language. The use of appropriate terminology both when directly working with students with disabilities and when speaking about people with disabilities in our classrooms is an important part of fostering a culture of inclusion in music classrooms.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.