Last week in Today’s Lady News, I posted about a man in Connecticut who had his sexual assault conviction overturned by a court. Richard Fourtin, Jr. had raped a woman with severe cerebral palsy; she cannot speak and has little body movement. The sexual assault conviction was overturned on the grounds that it could not be proven she refused consent. You can read more about the specifics of the case here and here.
After the post ran, I received an email from a reader, who asked to go by the name Les, regarding the language I used in reference to people with disabilities. For example, I wrote “mental disability” instead of “intellectual disability,” which Les explained in the preferred phrasing. I was unaware of the language disability rights advocates suggest us journalists/bloggers use, so I found the email to be really educational. I asked her permission to print her email as a “Letter To The Editor.” You can read it after the jump! Keep reading »
