By KECIA WELLER Special to the Daily Press
Editor’s note: In recognition of October as Disabilities Awareness Month in Santa Monica, the daily Press presents a month-long series of articles written by members of the City of Santa Monica Disabilities Commission.
On Jan. 8, 1974, the People First movement began in Salem,Ore.,with the purpose of organizing a convention where people with developmental disabilities could speak for themselves and share ideas, friendship and information.
In the course of planning the convention, the small group of planners decided they needed a name for themselves. A number of suggestions had been made when someone said, “I’m tired of being called ‘retarded’ — we are people first.” The name People First was chosen and the People First self-advocacy movement began.
One aspect of the movement is to encourage people to use People First language, which is a way of writing and speaking that puts the person first and the disability second, such as “She is a person with autism.” Saying “she is autistic,” on the other hand, suggests that the person is her disability or is defined by her disability. Self-advocates who believe in the People First movement know within themselves that they are people first and their disabilities come second.
At the first People First Convention in October 1974, 560 people attended. Within five years, Oregon had 1,000 People First members; Nebraska, Washington and Kansas had growing memberships; and people from 42 other states were asking for assistance to start their own groups.
Today, People First and the self-advocacy movement have grown into an international movement in 43 countries, with an estimated 17,000 members or more. In the United States alone, there are estimated to be well over 800 self-advocacy groups. A national organization, Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered, was formed in September 1991.
People First of California, Inc. (PFCA) started in 1976 and sought to become an umbrella group to connect all the states’People First chapters. PFCA now helps to start, inform and support local chapters so that we and all people with developmental disabilities are able to speak for ourselves,know our rights and responsibilities, and are respected, valued members of our communities. All people with developmental disabilities are ambassadors for the People First movement.
As a member of the PFCA Board of Directors and the Santa Monica Disabilities Commission, it is my privilege to help educate the public in advocacy and the People First movement.
Kecia Weller is a self-advocacy director for the Westside Regional Center. For more information on People First, contact http://www.peoplefirstca.org.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 19, 2006. Read the original PDF.