How To Properly Write About Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities

By Daphne Bowen


Words can influence a man immensely. Like all people, individuals with intellectual disabilities, can likewise be harmed and influenced by the way we discuss them. More often than not however, we are inconsiderate on how we address themes that are new to us.

Intellectual disability is not the same as being mentally ill. Scholarly inability is to have poor insightful limit joined with impedance in conforming to the conventional social environment. Reasons may be brain injury or stunted progression as an adolescent. Dysfunctional behavior happens frequently in the midst of pre-adulthood, mostly during the most critical part of a man's life. Persons with mental sickness even have astounding academic record and may lead an apparently customary life.

Education is key to be able to talk about intellectually challenged individuals. If you genuinely want to protect and uplift the morale of this challenged group, there are many ways. This article is not just for journalists but for anyone who has access to social media or who can have a conversation with others. Read: Everyone. Here are some pointers, collated by various organizations, on how to properly talk about persons with intellectual disability.

When talking or writing about them, avoid using the words: "retarded, mentally ill, abnormal, insane" or any other term that is synonymous to these. Once a person is labeled retarded, he is misconstrued to be a nuisance and a burden. This isn't the case as many people with intellectual disabilities, look after themselves and strive hard to be good in school.

Children and adults who have intellectual disabilities aren't the same. They are still in a world of their own and must be handled with care for that matter. Anytime a journalist writes about these persons, there is the need to use their full names, for example John Doe rather than using just the first name John.

An existence of a mentally challenge individual is generally seen or depicted as excessively sensational, melancholic and brimming with affliction particularly from the family's point of view. Numerous families don't experience this. Intellectually disabled persons have a consistent positive association with their families and guardians.

Only a few people know a family with a mentally challenged individual or even the individual himself. Authors and online networking clients have the obligation to edify individuals and depict these people taking an interest in each feature of life - at home or at work. Setting them or partner them with clinics does not help enhancing their picture.

Keep away from the expressions "suffering from", "victim of" or "unfortunate" when making reviews about them or discussing them out in the open. Remember that intellectual disability is not an illness and the pessimistic undertone is just how individuals see them not how they see themselves.

All these warning signs may be very limiting but everyone is encouraged to talk and write about them more. Now, they tend to reflect how society chooses them to be - neglected and in order to lift them up and to encourage them more, it is better to talk and write about them in a positive matter.




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