Dear Friends,

The reason that we are writing you this letter is to let you know that the Self-Advocates would like to request that staff and others no longer refer to people with disabilities as "consumers." We'd like to officially request that we be referred to as "individuals." We feel that being referred to as individuals is a way for staff and others to treat us with dignity and respect.

When you call us consumers, we feel that we don't have a place at the table. The word consumer labels us as outcasts, leaves us feeling like we are not part of the community, and like we are not part of a team.

To us, being called individuals is showing us that you, as staff and as other members of our shared community, care enough about how words affect us to make this change.

We have been recently reminded by the leadership at YAI that this is our agency and that the door is always open to us. We'd like to open that door and request that the YAI family stand with us to make the change from consumer to individual.

By making this change together we can make a difference in the lives of all the people being served by YAI.

Thank you for your willingness to understand where we as individuals are coming from.

Sincerely,

The Members of the YAI Self-Advocacy Association