Disabled Student (with disabilities)?

Disabled Student or Student with a disability?

Its the question that has plagued my life in E&D...

Its a confusion point alright... but what is the correct terminology and why?

Well before we can answer the question in hand, we need to answer a different question...

The question is, what is Disability?

well, under social model of disability, disability is nothing but a perception, an idea, a label that society imposes on a person.

So what makes me disabled? the answer is simply, PEOPLE!

So the answer to the question, Disabled student or student with a disability is, Disabled Student.

But Why, I hear you ask?

Well the real answer is, that the term student with a disability implies that the student owns their disability and thus they can use it to their own advantage. The simple answer is that the term disabled student infers that society is disabling the student. Which fits perfectly with the social model of disability.