De-weaponize Your Vocabulary

When I do DEI training sessions, I always ask the organizer to provide me with the feedback they received. Most of the feedback I receive is positive (not a humble brag, that's a 100% brag). However, after a recent session, I received feedback that I used ableist language.

I know that my lifelong experience as an athlete (and now as a soccer coach) shapes the way that I communicate. Regardless of my personal history, I'm responsible for my words, especially as I work to upskill organizations in the DEI space.

Language is not a fixed thing, it evolves much in the same way that culture evolves. The vocabulary I left undergrad with is completely different from the vocabulary I have now. We all need to be intentional about updating our vocabulary as our society continually updates itself.

To that end, I'm sharing a fantastic resource that I'm using to de-weaponize my vocabulary. The American Psychological Association's Inclusive Language Guide (https://www.apa.org/about/apa/equity-diversity-inclusion/language-guidelines) does a great job of sharing definitions and explaining why certain phrases can be hurtful.

Nobody is perfect in how they communicate with others. But if we are intentional about improvement, we can get a bit better each day.