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.
Your point is well taken. It does make a difference. I had never really thought of it that way.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those subtle things that makes more and more sense as you practice it, at least for me.
ReplyDeleteI 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."