I was pleased to read the article by Jackson Lashier entitled “Eyes are opened during dinner to increase awareness of disabilities” in the Nov. 10 Daily. I applaud the efforts of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity in providing an opportunity to empathize with persons with a disability.

I write now in response to specific wording and labeling, used by Mr. Lashier in this article — not as a complaint out of a sense of being offended, but to use this opportunity to bring further awareness to the issue.

The article describes the purpose of the dinner to “increase the awareness of the struggles of the mentally and physically challenged.” It is a fact that persons with mental and physical disabilities do often face “challenges” due to the disability itself. It is not true that this is who they are.

Persons with disabilities are people first. They live with their disability, not in spite of it. Their lives can be happy, successful and meaningful. They are worthwhile; we do need to recognize the barriers and challenges that face people, to empathize and then act on that knowledge in a positive way. We also need to stop putting labels on them that continue to layer on negativity to the connotations that still pervade our society.

My daughter is a second grader who likes soccer, computers and McDonald’s, who laughs heartily at a well-delivered, good joke and who has disabilities. For her and her future, I ask that you see persons with disabilities not as “the mentally and physically challenged,” but for who they are — your neighbor, your friend, your aunt, your daughter — with a disability.

Joani Schweitzer Gent

ISU Institute for Public Leadership