People First Language Legislation

Last week, Delaware enacted H.B. 416.  The legislation creates no new rights or duties.  But like new legislation in many other states, it improves the vocabulary and terminology in existing law relating to people with disabilities.  





People First Language (“PFL”) legislation is part of a national movement to promote dignity and inclusion for people with disabilities.  PFL specifies that the order of terms used to describe any individual places the person first, and the description of the person second.  For example, when using PFL, outdated terms such as “the disabled” would be phrased as “persons with disabilities.”  This language emphasizes that individuals are people first, and that their disabilities are secondary.



In compliance with PFL guidelines, the new Delaware law amends current references to persons with disabilities throughout the Code by placing the person first and the disability second.  



Also pursuant to PFL, the new Delaware law removes offensive and/or insensitive language from the Code and replaces that language with respectful language.  For example, the Act replaces antiquated and offensive terms such as “mental retardation” and “mental illness” with more appropriate terms like “intellectual disability” and “mental condition,” respectively.