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Identity-First and Person-First Language

Identity-first language and person-first language refer to different grammatical approaches for referring to disabled people within English.

Identity-First Language

Identity-first language follows English’s convential word order, putting the disability-adjective before the person-noun.

Examples include:

  • Disabled person
  • Blind programmers
  • Dyslexic readers
  • Wheelchair user

Person-First Language

Proponents of person-first language (also called people-first language or PFL) try to mention the person-noun before describing the disability, often by using a relative clause. Nominally, this is to distance the person from their disability.

Examples include:

  • People with disabilities
  • Programmers who are blind
  • Readers with dyslexia
  • Someone who uses a wheelchair

Which to Use

This is a can of worms.

From what I’ve seen, most disabled people are either unaware that this has even been a conversation, or don’t have a strong preference.

When disabled people are opinionated on the topic, the impression I’ve gotten is that advocacy for person-first language feels like it comes from the outside, from nondisabled people aiming for allyship, and very rarely does it come from disabled people directly. Something worth noting here is person-first language’s proponents’ implicit assumption that disabled people would want to be distanced from their disabilities. Because of this, I will most often describe disabled people with identity-first language (though, if it fits the flow of the sentence better, I will use person-first here and there).

When referring to an individual with a known, stated preference one way or another, use that approach. To that end, I’d prefer to be referred to with identity-first language — or, at very least, I would prefer people not feel like they would need to awkwardly rework a sentence to accommodate person-first on my behalf.

If you don’t know an individual’s preference and can’t ask them, one thing you can do is see if any self-advocacy groups (i.e., groups explicitly composed of the group you’re trying to describe) have a lead you can follow. For instance, the National Federation of the Blind and the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network both advocate for identity-first language. While disabled communities are never a monolith, self-advocacy groups are likelier to have their thumb on the pulse for how individuals broadly feel on a given issue.

External Resources