I am not going to say too much here as I think the tweet from the Founder and Executive Director Tracy Humphreys, says it all.
BCEdAccess is a non-profit organization. “We champion and support children and youth who have disabilities and who are complex learners to reach their full potential in BC education, and in all aspects of their lives.”
At a press conference on December 29th, 2021, the Minister of Education, Jennifer Whiteside announced a phased delayed school start, in January of 2022 due to the spread of the Omicron variant; euphemism language to describe disabled children was used.
Here is BCEdAccess’s response.
Twitter Thread
When I think of language, it shines a light on the darkness that people don’t want to reveal. I remember my own internalized ableism and what I was too ashamed to say out loud or discuss with others.
If someone cannot even describe a disabled person with the rights based language and say the word “disability”, that just shows you how far we need to go in the advocacy fight against socialized ableism.
Let’s just think about all of the horrors that society is uncomfortable talking about. Apparently, disability is part of that group.
We all grew up and are living in a very deeply entrenched ableist society. It’s time we use these opportunities to unpack and unlearn ableism together.
Thank you Tracy and BCEdAccess, for being such a strong voice.
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Update!!
