by Alexandra Young, Temple Shalom in Broomall

 

One thing I learned from Wendy Elliott-Vandivier is that someone with a disability doesn’t define who they are as a person and doesn’t mean they are incapable of doing things people do. This can be from asking what happened to you to parking in a wheelchair accessible space when not needed.

There is also nothing wrong with using the word disabled. There is something called person-first language and disability-first language. It depends person to person what they prefer. Just because they are in a wheelchair doesn’t mean they are incapable. And that is something we all need to be mindful of.