We have said it before, but it is worth repeating. INTIX is incredibly fortunate to have an extraordinary community of experts on accessibility equity.

In the first five stories in our 10-part series, we heard from Becky Bradbeer and ticketing insider Sarah J. Hom about their personal experiences as consumers of live events. Relaxed performance consultant Rachel Marks shared a story on reimagining how the disability community accesses the arts. Betty Siegel of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts helped us learn about creating a welcoming environment for all consumers. And John McEwen and Beth Prevor from the New Jersey Theatre Alliance explained the importance of being mindful and intentional about the language we use to communicate.

Next, we are pleased to share the expertise and experiences of Katie Samson, Director of Education at Art-Reach, an innovative service organization in Philadelphia focused on making the arts accessible to the disability community and people with low income. Before joining Art-Reach in 2019, Katie had been working as a museum educator and teaching critical disability studies at a university as an adjunct faculty member.

As part of her role at Art-Reach, Katie provides training that helps to redefine disability for live event organizations, which is valid and important for all genres and verticals, as well as other groups, including universities and for-profit companies.

“A number of years ago, the Art-Reach team recognized that training cultural institutions was a big thing to really build trust among visitors and audience members in establishing a relationship that destigmatizes their identity as having a disability, and also centers their experience,” Katie says.

Whether your live event organization accesses training through Art-Reach, The Kennedy Center or another organization, and/or attends The Kennedy Center’s Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) conference, excellent customer service extends to understanding how people with disabilities identify themselves. LEAD is a network and the annual "go-to" conference for entertainment organizations of all sizes and types to access valuable learning opportunities.

Some may use person-first or people-first language, which puts the person before the disability. “Person with a disability,” “person who uses a wheelchair” or “a person who is blind or low vision” are examples.

Others may use disability-first or identity-first language, which puts the disability first as a point of pride. Examples include “a disabled person,” “wheelchair user” or “blind person.”

As we detailed in our earlier story about welcoming words, there is nothing wrong with adopting either standard as an organizational policy; however, listening during one-on-one communications and respecting individual choices remains paramount.

“I was a proponent for many years of using person-first language,” Katie says. “When identity-first language started happening, it was tough even for me personally to make the shift to saying ‘I am a wheelchair user’ or ‘I am a disabled woman.’ Now it is very fluid, so sometimes I will use identity-first, and sometimes I will use person-first. It depends on the situation, and it really depends on who I am comfortable talking to. If I am talking to someone who keeps saying ‘handicapped’ over and over and over again, I will try to lead by example by using person-first language.”

Indeed, it is important for ticketing and live events professionals, whether it be in a theater, arena, festival or game, to know words that are offensive and should not be used.

“Stop using the word handicapped,” Katie says. “Use the word accessible to replace it. So, accessible seating, accessible ramp, accessible parking, because the term accessible really means so much more when we are [talking about] ease of access. Handicapped, the etymology of the word is fascinating in and of itself, but it really does not speak to ease of use, which is what we are talking about when we talk about accessibility in general. Getting away from affliction language like ‘impaired’ or ‘suffers from’ [is also important].”

Ultimately, Katie believes that we should be aware of the difference between people-first and identity-first language, but that both can be used, depending on the circumstance.

“We are at that point now where I think there is a transition happening. For people to be aware of it and recognize that when you are encountering someone, whether it is at the ticket office, virtually or over the phone, that they might use identity-first language, but that does not necessarily give the person on the customer service end the right to use identity-first language, which is interesting. I can call myself a wheelchair user, but I would prefer for someone else to use people-first language, and that could be someone’s thought in that process,” she says.

Katie continues, “None of us [as people with disabilities] are in the business of policing other people’s language. That is not necessarily what it is about when it comes to customer service. I am big on getting away from euphemisms in general. I think they were created to make nondisabled people feel more comfortable, and people just must get used to saying ‘disabled’ and getting comfortable with saying ‘disabled.’ Whether it is ‘physically challenged’ or ‘differently abled’ or that type of thing, that definitely rubs me the wrong way.”

In her Art-Reach training sessions, Katie presents and discusses a chart highlighting person-first language as well as language to avoid. She emphasizes that the chart works in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region, but as INTIX is international, it is important to note that there can be differences in language use across the country and outside of the United States.

Katie also highlights current trends in identity-first language that she is seeing, which are presented on the chart in parenthesis. Millennials with Autism, for example, have really started to utilize Autistic with a capital A. The Deaf community has also long referred to itself using Deaf with a capital D.

Source: Kathy Snow (2001) UNMC (2009) & Steven J. Taylor (2011)

*Indicates identity-first language preferences

“I always use identity-first language with Deaf people because someone who is born Deaf, for them it is a cultural difference; it is not a disability,” Katie says. “Oftentimes with organizations, if they want to put a notation on their website about how to request language accommodation, I am encouraging people to put it with the bilingual language information rather than with the accessibility information on their website because of that cultural difference. That is a much more progressive approach to understanding the Deaf community, and it is appreciated, I think, much more than labeling it as a disability.”

For organizations that want an extensive and thorough style guide, Katie recommends a regularly updated resource from the National Center on Disability and Journalism (NCDJ) at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The NCDJ Disability Language Style Guide includes basic guidelines and covers dozens of words that are commonly used when referring to disability.

Further, Katie suggests to think beyond language in your communications. For example, the universal access symbols (iconography) on your website can in some cases be more progressive too, like the wheelchair icon, which was recently redesigned to be more active and forward leaning.

She also recommends the book Demystifying Disability by Emily Ladau. “It is written of, by and for people with disabilities, and it is a really good, comprehensive, very accessible guide,” Katie says. “Whenever I do training, I tell people to buy this book and put it in their staff lounge.”

As well, inviting panelists with disabilities to speak about their experience is a great addition to training and talking about language. Building empathy around disabled experts who can speak of their own lived experience is crucial, she says.

With all this in mind, we asked Katie how a ticketing professional can best ensure that they are not saying or writing things that could be offensive.

“Doing the homework, using Google,” she says, “all of those types of things are really important to just stay up to date with current language, customer service, things that we expect out of just being a polite and gracious human being. I also think that people with disabilities, because of various experiences they have had in their lifetimes, are understanding to mistakes and to the fact that we live in a world where, frankly, historically speaking, the attitude toward disability was avoidance behavior, and so coming out of the history of ableism, it was to understand that rather than avoiding this situation. Actively engaging and then having to make a mistake, being apologetic about it, having a sense of humor, I think is very important, especially when it comes to defusing awkward situations.”

You May Also Like

• Welcoming Words — Why Language is Essential for Accessibility Equity in All Live Entertainment Genres
• Creating a Welcoming Environment for Customers With Disabilities in COVID-19 Times and Beyond

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