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Changing the Lexicon
The number one challenge in the business/disability space is effective branding. Over the past forty years, clinicians have been setting standards in the space. Interactions are a tad different beyond the lab bench. When was the last time you heard PepsiCo market Fritos as Processed Corn with an exact measurement of NaCl….sounds tasty, right?
In the branding world language is important. It defines everything. The current language of disability is rooted in clinical nomenclature, instead of positive, forward moving descriptions that set no boundaries. The result is a brand of disability that is so negative, it is radioactive…nobody wants to come near it.
Legacy Language Abatement (LLA) is a process that Integrated Process Solutions LLC(IPS) builds into its product. IPS believes that by imbedding new ‘tags’ and descriptions of a shared reality, over time the brand will change.
Take the word ‘disability’. A PhD in linguistics is not required to break this word down. While some have tried to twist this word, to emphasize the root ‘ability’, the damage is done. When something is this entrenched in language, the root leads back to the tree.
IPS starts with a clean slate. In recognizing that it’s the result that counts, we redefine ‘person with disability’ using the following system of language:
- Alternate Path Person – APP – Alternate path to common outcome – Conventional language = Person with Disability
PP = Physical path – Conventional language = Physical Disability
TP = Thought path – Conventional language = Learning Disability/Cognitive Disability/Developmental Disability
IP = Interaction path – Having a barrier(s) to interfacing with the world - Non APP Stakeholder – NAPPS – Family/friend/caregiver/interested 3rd party
- Mass Path Person – MPP – those that do not fit into category 1 or 2
MP = Mass path
This system allows IPS to measure and segment without making implicit judgments on the quality of output or end results embedded in the word ‘disability’. Most people with 'disabilities' will ask to be judged on delivered results as opposed to the process they use to get there.
Language does not change overnight, but by inserting change into process, IPS starts to focus on what counts…results.
