This weekend and today have been totally unremarkable. There's nothing going on of interest around here at all. No fun trips, not much knitting, nothing really at all to talk about.
How about I just say this (especially since I'm seeing it in a couple of groups on Ravelry right about now)…
- It's not Down's syndrome (unless you're in the UK then it is). It's Down syndrome.
- Nobody suffers from Down syndrome.
- Person-first language. Please. Not a Down's baby. Nope. Not ever. Never ever appropriate to define someone by their medical diagnosis.
I also know there are parents of kids with DS who aren't bothered by the lack of person-first language. It bothers me. I try to not let it get to me, but I do. It bothers me immensely, especially when parents fail to use person-first language. I also am a little bothered by the use of "Downsie." It's not cute; it's demeaning. Refer to my kid that way and you'll get kicked. Hard.
Downsie? Ugh.
The person-first thing…I like to think it doesn’t bother me, but it does. I saw a headline about Jamie Foxx’s “Down syndrome sister” and it jumped out at me.
I don’t hear many people saying it, though. Luckily.
Mindy, Because of your educating us, I find I get bothered when I hear/see those references being made. In fact, I’m reading a book now that refers to a character as someone who had “Down’s Syndrome”. My thought when I first saw it was why didn’t the editor catch this mistake? Thank you.
Have you checked out Kathy Snow’s website? It’s have lots of hand outs and articles.
Thank you for this.