Article - The Most Personal Choice: Defining Self
This editorial was written by Jason Schreurs, and originally appeared in DABC’s Transition magazine on Respecting Disability Language and Identity. (Summer 2022). Read the issue here.
My name is Jason and I live with bipolar. I didn’t say, “I’m bipolar” or “I have bipolar.” I also didn’t use the word “disorder” or “illness.” I choose to say I “live with” my condition: “bipolar.”
This is my personal preference and I would never judge anyone else on theirs. I’m not alone in the disability community questioning the language that I use and how it helps to form my identity. It’s a fascinating and important discussion.
What I’ve Learned as a Group Facilitator
As a support group facilitator for the past two years, I’ve seen that many people living with disabilities use many different ways to describe themselves.
Some use terms that detach them from their condition. They want to say they’re not defined by something that’s beyond their control. They didn’t ask for it, it’s not who they are. They’re not ill, disordered or diseased.
People in another camp, just as validly and just as passionately, want to acknowledge their illness for the many ways it affects them. For them, terms like “illness” and “disorder” validate the struggles they face in day-to-day functioning, while softer terms like “health issue” or “health condition” minimize those struggles.
Much of the disability community has moved toward first-person language that emphasizes the person, not the disability, and how disability is just one aspect of who they are. Others argue that this can discredit a person’s lived experience.
“I want [people] to know I have a diagnosed illness and not a general health issue,” says Jennifer Ann de la Torre, who has schizoaffective disorder. “An illness means I require special accommodations, as well as empathy, compassion and sensitivity.”
Isha Sharma has diagnoses of bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and borderline personality disorder. She reflects on why she has come to refer to herself as someone who “has” or “lives” with disabilities.
“It took a couple of years of therapy and consistent work on myself to understand and accept that I can live a life that is healthy. Language has been an important part of that,” says Sharma. “Being kind to myself has never been easy, but I am working on it, and saying ‘I have a condition’ versus ‘I am a condition’ makes a massive difference.”
My Own Questions About Language
I often wonder if I’m downplaying my own diagnosis by telling people I have a health condition, rather than an illness. As an advocate for mental health, I can see both sides of the issue.
While normalized language may help some people to accept me for who I am, a more immediate form of advocacy would be to raise awareness about how illness affects me and people with other conditions–and what our communities and services can do to support us.
I know that how people with disabilities self-identify is not a closed issue. How we use language around disability to formulate our identities is a fluid process, and that’s okay.
Courtenay McLeod has been living with bipolar for 21 years and would like to see more acceptance around people’s choice to use whatever language empowers them.
“There is no universal ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to articulating your own experience,” she says. “Being open-minded and understanding how personal conditions can be—and how that may affect the language [we] use—needs to be accepted.”
Even as I type words like “condition” to describe what I live with, I know others out there are at their own desks typing words like “illness” to define their own experiences.
“I don’t care how other people say it,” says Michael Frenette, who has a mental disability. “I’m not a language police officer, and I don’t believe anyone should be. My personal struggles do not take priority over other people’s lives and truths, and most people who are not informed only want to learn.”
Jason Schreurs is a music and mental health writer, host of the internationally renowned Scream Therapy podcast, and self- proclaimed punk weirdo.
Job Posting: HR and Admin Manager for DABC
Who We Are
Since 1977, Disability Alliance BC (DABC) has been a provincial, cross-disability voice in British Columbia. We champion issues impacting the lives of people with disabilities through our direct services, community partnerships, advocacy, research and publications.
We work to support people with all disabilities to live with dignity, independence and as equal and full participants in the community.
Job Description
DABC is seeking a full-time HR and Admin Manager to join our team. Reporting to the Executive Director (ED), the HR and Admin Manager will provide oversight on all HR policies and processes, financial and operational administrative processes, and will demonstrate leadership in advancing equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the organization.
The HR and Admin Manager plays a critical role in ensuring that HR processes are being handled respectfully and appropriately in the organization, and alongside this, supports the ED in ensuring that financial and operational aspects of administration are running smoothly. The HR and Admin Manager also plays a key role as a member of DABC’s leadership committee, contributing to the direction and leadership of the organization as a whole.
Responsibilities
HR:
- Oversee all personnel files
- Manage and update all HR policies and practices
- Advance the principles of EDI in the organization, including streamlining within HR policies and practices
- Coordinate extended health insurance
- Work with senior staff to oversee recruitment, training and performance assessment of all staff
- Be a resource for all staff on all human resources-related issues.
- Oversee and monitor any professional development opportunities for staff
Admin:
- In liaison with other admin staff, coordinate and maintain a record of all supplier, insurance and lease contracts
- Support ED and senior staff on budget allocation, cheque requisition, invoicing and cheque processing
- Support Financial Coordinator and ED with annual audit
- Oversee compliance and due diligence obligations
Working hours:
This is a full-time, permanent, salaried position at $60,000 per year.
This position offers the following benefits after a three-month probationary period:
- 15 days of paid vacation annually
- 18 days of paid sick leave annually
- 100% of the cost of extended health and dental care benefits
- 2 weeks of paid time off during DABC’s annual holiday office closure in December.
Requirements:
- Minimum 5 years applicable work experience
- Experience in the non-profit sector
- Demonstrate leadership and commitment to anti-oppression principles
- Knowledge of BC labour laws and other relevant legislative requirements
- Excellent organizational skills
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to address conflict with empathy and kindness
- Experience with Microsoft Office, Zoom, and other online sharing platforms
- Be able to take initiative by identifying and addressing rooms for improvement in the organization
The following are strong assets for this position:
- Lived experience with a disability
- Lived experience as a member of an equity-deserving group
- Training in trauma-informed practice
- Training related to mental health support in the workplace
- Certification/professional training in human resources
- Understanding and demonstrated experience in change management strategies
The position is located in Vancouver, on the Unceded Territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
This position offers a hybrid work opportunity; the successful candidate may wish to work at the office (located in downtown Vancouver) a few days a week and at home the rest of the time.
Importantly, we are looking for people who want to make a long term commitment to our organization and have a strong desire to assist people with disabilities as well as further the impact of our organization.
DABC is an open and diverse organization that promotes inclusive hiring practices. We encourage applications from qualified applicants who identify as visible minorities, Indigenous persons, and of all sexual orientations, gender expressions and identities. People with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply.
To Apply:
Please submit a resume and brief covering letter addressed to Helaine Boyd, Executive Director at helaine@disabilityalliancebc.org. No phone calls or faxes please.
Applications are due no later than midnight on September 18, 2022. DABC welcomes all applications, however, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for an interview. Interviews will be conducted in September and the position start date will be as soon as possible.
