Back in the Neolithic era, when I was a pediatric resident, an endocrinology attending wiped his feet on me when I called a patient a "diabetic."
"The patient is not a 'diabetic,' the patient is a child with diabetes"Um, that's what I said, no?
"You called the patient a diabetic."Same thing?
"A patient is not a disease."A year later I was chiding medical students for calling children diabetics, epileptics, and asthmatics. It matters.
We use words without realizing their influence.
I have some children with dyslexia in my classes, but I no longer have any dyslexics.
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2 comments:
Your point is well taken. It does make a difference. I had never really thought of it that way.
It's one of those subtle things that makes more and more sense as you practice it, at least for me.
I was initially taken aback when I was called on it, but ultimately I saw my patients in a new light, or rather a more complete light.
It indirectly meshes with your latest blog entry
"Sticks and Stones."
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