From her wheelchair, Anna Landre can only see the top half of the ad, but it’s enough to make her stop in the middle of a walkway on Georgetown University’s campus. It shows a boy with one leg wearing a baseball uniform.
Landre points it out to me and then tries to guess what words sit below that image.
“I bet it says something like, ‘What’s your excuse?’ ” she says.
“Close,” I tell her after leaning over a short wall to read it. “It says, ‘Overcoming.’ ”
Landre rolls her eyes.
Where many people might see an inspirational message, Landre sees a cliche. She sees another missed chance at changing the conversation about people with disabilities.
Even that phrase “people with disabilities” bothers her. She prefers to say “disabled people.”
Landre knows that runs counter to what many people believe is respectful. Disability organizations and advocates for years have pushed for the use of “person-first language,” which calls for introducing the individual before the disability.
But Landre, who has spinal muscular atrophy type 2 and has been in a wheelchair most of her life, wants you to call her “a disabled woman.” She wants you to see her disability as more than a medical determination.
To read more on this story, click here: This Georgetown Sophomore Wants To Change How We View And Talk About Disabilities
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