Tricky terminology
Those living with a disability today, just like those living without, will have varying opinions of life: from terminology to attitudes and from severity to definitions. Communities of sorts may not all be in alignment when it comes to expressing feelings and thoughts about what living with a condition/disability means to them. Terminology can sound cruel at times for those who have not moved on and realised that major changes have taken place with the word 'person' placed before the issue/disability. As a child I suffered from severe/life threatening asthma and was always referred to as 'an asthmatic' even before my name. There are mixed feelings for me about this as I sometimes feel that 'asthmatic' is quickly named and called attention to the condition and described the urgency surrounding it. These days with my breathing under control I would now be referred to as 'a person with a respiratory condition'. I am a person and not just a set of lung
