I recently learned that March is Disability Awareness and Developmental Disability Awareness Month, so I thought this would be a good time to discuss labels.
Increasingly, I have heard people say “why do we need to label things?” in reference to developmental disorders such as ADHD and Autism, and while I agree that over-labeling (eg: defining things by what severity you believe they are) can be quite damaging, having labels for things is actually important and I want to explain why.
At the root, it all comes down to that it would be awfully time-consuming and difficult to describe everything by its traits. “This person has difficulty reading and interpreting letters, which may also extend to numbers and arithmetic as well as a difficulty establishing their left from their right,” is quite a mouthful, but all of this is understood by simply describing the person as “dyslexic.” Then the traits are understood, as they are associated with that label.
If that doesn’t make sense, then consider how difficult it would be if we couldn’t label anything. Instead of ‘pencil,’ we would have to ask for “the writing implement with a graphite tip and rubber at the opposite end used for erasing.” But could we even ask for that? As graphite and rubber are labels in and of themselves. Taking it further, a name is also a sort of label. How would it be for me to have to describe my oldest as “that green-eyed male child with sandy-blond hair and a penchant for Minecraft?” Seems easier to just say “Alexander.”
Yes, I realize that’s taking it a bit too far, but hopefully, you see my point here. diagnostic labels are essentially a category to help us understand what something is and why someone may behave the way they do. Using labels in this way can help someone to understand that there is a reason behind what they are experiencing, that they are not malfunctioning, and, more importantly, not alone.
And this is especially important for gaining access to things like accommodations for school and in the workplace as well as life in general. If someone is visually impaired, then you would understand that the person would likely need accommodations made for their vision or lack thereof. If they were paraplegic, you would know to accommodate them with a ramp in place of stairs as well as to make counters more accessible for their condition. These are accommodations that we have all seen and become comfortable with. No one is trying to make me walk around without my glasses. No one is going to ask someone in a wheelchair to use the stairs. But just as my glasses required a prescription, in education and the workplace, accommodations for developmental disabilities may not be accessible without the diagnostic label, despite that a lot of accommodations we make for developmental disabilities (especially ones like dyslexia and dyscalculia) would actually be beneficial to all children in a learning environment, not just the students that struggle with math or reading. But that is a different soap box for a different blog post.
Furthermore, the ‘not feeling alone’ bit can be equally important. I know just for me, finding out that there were other people like me, who struggled the same way I struggle helped me to feel like it wasn’t me against the world. That I didn’t have to convince everyone that I was trying as hard as I could because there was an entire subset of people who were also trying to convince their social groups and families that they were trying just as hard, and it gave all of us a sense of belonging to be doing that together. A diagnostic label can be a relief to some, as they now have an explanation for why they seem to struggle in ways other people may not, and a group of like-minded individuals to support them in ways their friends and family could not.
So don’t be afraid of diagnostic labels. Used appropriately, they are helpful in making sure everyone has access to what they need to help them thrive. My hope is that someday we will no longer need these diagnostic tools, but until that day comes, it would behoove us to use what we have to get what we need.
