Inventing trouble where there isn’t any seems to be a consistent habit under this government

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Don’t say “person with special needs”; say “person who requires supports.” Don’t say “non-verbal”; say “person who does not use words or signs.” And absolutely do not say “normal” or “able-bodied”; say “person without a disability.”

These are some of the new rules the public servants at Employment and Social Development Canada released in September to make English speakers less offensive when they talk about disabilities, or in there words “to support the federal public service and all Canadians to communicate accurately and confidently.” Only, many of these rules grasp at straws, smearing everyday, widely understood phrases as sinister.

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Accordingly, I’m going to have to disagree with our language police in Ottawa. “Special needs,” “non-verbal” and “able-bodied” are well-recognized terms that, in few words, communicate a certain condition without being offensive. They can be twisted to offend and insult, sure, but they’re not objectively cruel terms deserving of sanction. Why create problems where there are none?

Inventing trouble where there isn’t any seems to be a consistent habit under this government, which has gone all-out on “inclusion.” The most extreme measures have been taken on the fronts of race and gender, but the politics of disability have been impacted just as well. See the language guide: its first version was........

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