Watch Your Words, They Matter
Teepa Snow's Positive Approach to Dementia Care
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An excerpt from Teepa's weekly, internal Sunday Good News to the Positive Approach to Care (PAC) Team 02/04/2022:
Beth [Nolan] also sent me an article for today – it’s about spongy moths. Not a name you have likely heard, though their previous name was probably one you not only knew, but feared seeing near your trees and property, due to their dangerous eating and nest making habits.?Thanks Beth for submitting this language matters segment:
Take a look at the title of an article from CNN from July 2021: An invasive species has an ethnic slur in its common name. Entomologists are changing that. The invasive species was formerly known as the gypsy moth. It speaks to what PAC knows to be true, that language matters.
Ethel Brooks, now a scholar at Rutgers, was raised in a Romani community in New Hampshire. She grew up with other kids telling her to stay away from gypsy moths.
This is a step toward us being able to push back, and say, 'Hey, there are actually 12 million or more of us in the world. We have a history. We are people. We're human,' Brooks said.
A 2020 complaint sent to the Entomological Society of America initiated the vote and process to replace the derogatory term.
Please do not welcome, but happily meet the spongy moth! The spongy-like form the eggs take cling to wood and vehicles all over the world. Take your shoe and do your part to save the North American forests.
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So the next time you casually use the term spongy moth in front of a neighbor or child, how might you be doing more than just being politically correct, but actually making the world more inclusive? Consider a child of Romani heritage whose love of insects leads them to a career in entomology, and they find a species whose brain is resistant to the effects of inflammatory diseases? One never knows...
I think it's safe to speculate that the butterfly effect (Chaos Theory) may apply here, too. ??
So as you go to comment, write your own story, or blog, keep in mind that just because something is a part of our language, it doesn't mean that it has to stay that way!
Join us in the mission to change the culture of dementia care, one mind at a time. De-stigmatize dementia through awareness, education, advocacy, and training. Visit www.teepasnow.com to find out more about Teepa and the PAC Team's mission!