A friend posted on social media this week that our President said Gavin Newsome had a “mental disability” referring to his dyslexia. Umm… what?
Another example of why words and labels matter. Especially as the President of the United States. But there’s an entirely different post related to that loaded statement. For now, I will stick to referencing learning differences.
When I was in graduate school, the way of thinking was that people were first before their differences. So the generally accepted way of speaking was to say a student with autism.
This has changed over the years, mostly guided by feedback from people with learning differences. Currently it is more accepted to say autistic student.
I had a really long conversation last fall with an adult on the autism spectrum, so I straight up asked him which he preferred. He paused and said, honestly he didn’t care as long as the person was trying to be respectful of his differences, which I felt like was a true answer.
There were a lot of us teachers trained back in the olden days to use people first language, so a simple explanation about why that is not longer preferred (and grace for being educated 20+ years ago) will go a long way in changing our behavior.
But regardless of what you say, it’s how you say it. And I our president meant his comment to be an insult because of a learning difference. That is NOT ok. But I am also aware that trying to change his behavior with an educated conversation is useless.
I challenge everyone who reads this post to be thoughtful and mindful of how you speak about people who are different from you.
Different does not mean less than. And sometimes being different means those individuals have super powers that “normal people” do not have. That was a comment from my former student in her podcast episode.
Just like I told my children on the way to school after the 2016 election, you can only be responsible for your actions. Be mindful. Thoughtful. Considerate of others. And most of all, open to someone who is different from you. That is all that we can control.
That advice (sadly) still holds true in 2026.