'What do you call the people you work with?' is one of the questions people always ask Carissa Pereira when they find out she works with adults who have special needs. 'The people I work with,' she tells them.
"Do they drink [alcohol]?' – which Carissa takes to mean 'Do they do the same things that [normal] adults do?' – is another one.
Adults with intellectual disabilities are commonly described as childlike by the general public, but this language diminishes their personhood, she tells Jesse Mulligan.
Photo: Cliff Booth / Unsplash
Describing an individual as "cute" or a group as "boys and girls" may be an attempt to convey affection, she says – "people like children" – but these descriptions aren't appropriate when talking about adults.
"[This language] frames people as passive recipients of care, people that need to be looked after rather than valuing them as adults who have autonomy and people who are contributing citizens in our society."
Carissa Pereira Photo: Carissa Pereira
People who describe adults with intellectual disabilities in childlike terms often don't intend to be patronising, Carissa says.
We can all be a bit more mindful of how we speak to and about other people, she says, including referring to adults with disabilities as the adults they are.
"Nobody likes to feel like they're being talked down to. The intention is not to patronise, but that's how it can come across. It can affect people's dignity when they feel like they're being talked down to. It makes you feel like you're not being taken seriously or are not on an equal footing with the person that's talking to you."
Carissa Pereira is the CEO of A Supported Life - a small organisation in West Auckland that provides residential care and life skills training for people with intellectual disabilities.
