You can't say that!

What should I say? He and his mother are both culturaly British so mixed culture makes no sense. Actually i dont refer to him by aything except his name!

Hearing impaired covers a range of issues. Hearing can be much more difficult in certain circumstances, or easier in others. Likewise visually impaired. Pupils in school in PSHE lessons can be given different glasses to show the different sight problems that some people have, and then asked to walk round (with a friend). Really enhances empathy

I lived next door to an American girl who said she was not coloured, she was black. She hated the coloured word.

Blue Belle - Oh yes to your page 1 post!! I actually choked on my cup of tea!
How twee can people get?!

Tiggersuki.I do not believe that you as a child of three would have understood what 'died' meant.
Many now use the word passed on in preference, but passed on to where? Equally confusing to a young person.
You are still grieving.Your stepmother has not been all she should have been to you and your sister.
There are organisations that will help you concerning your feelings over the loss of your mother. No matter how long it has been since your loss.Citizens Advice will give you the details or go on line.

My friends nephew enjoy wearing women' clothes, he's not a cross-dresser but gender-fluid.

I hate the new-speak for mistakes... calling them 'missed opportunities'. Especially when it concerns a child dying due to what is obviously medical negligence.

Missed opportunities my a$$...and lessons learned, not an apology or admission of making the mistake. Mistakes are mistakes!

Don't forget that lovely euphemism "economical with the actualité"

I was told by an Italian that they never refer to someone as having died but as "being no longer with us". Also my sister has an elderly Jamaican friend who always talks about "coloured people" She would think it impolite to be called a black person.
BTW, isn't "toilet" also a euphemism? Probably "lavatory" is too.Shall we go back to p* and s***?

When my children were at high school, at parents' meetings, the head of sixth form always referred to them as "your young people" which did make me cringe a bit but I can see the difficulty. They weren't small children. Those who'd turned 18 were officially adults. It still sounded pretentious, though. I hope she didn't refer to us as "your older/middle-aged/chronologically challenged people"!

I've heard people with disabilities referred to as 'differently enabled' and I'm happy to believe that anyone, whoever they are, might be able to do things that I'm not able to do.

It's a minefield though. I had a lovely visit from two firemen the other day, who installed a new smoke alarm for me. I was on the phone to my daughter (cis female offspring) at the time and said 'the fire brigade are here!' but of course, they are officers of the Fire and Rescue Service. I did remember to refer to their appliance rather than fire engine when I asked if it was OK to take a photo. My grandson is obsessed with Fireman (fire and rescue officer) Sam. ?

Their 'appliance'?!

I think you now hear most black people prefer to refer to themselves as black. Black pride, "Black lives matter," "Black artists" "Black singers"

There was a program on Radio four this morning titled
"Black Art Matters" all about the achievement of black visual artists, painters etc whose work has tended to get overlooked.
Black is now a terminology of pride and identity used by black people.

Can anyone please enlighten me on the term 'special needs'. It seems to me to be such a vague word that is intended to cover a huge range of things but in fact give no information at all.

Nope, and I work in that precise sphere. It has also been called 'complex needs'..

I've heard of playgroups who sing, "Baa baa pink sheep" and I was told off (25 years ago) for saying, "Put in black and white".
My dog had fits, not seizures. Why is the pc term always much longer than the old term?
As for Loo, I was brought up to say that because Toilet was common and American. Snobby words are different from pc ones.

Special needs means just that.

In the same way that Canis is a genus of canids containing multiple extant species, such as wolves, dogs and coyotes, so can the generic term 'special needs' encompass a variety of issues such as dyslexia, autism, learning difficulties, and physical disabilities such as hearing loss, blindness, mobility issues. etc ...right up to the gifted and talented.

The term special needs means anyone for whom the national curriculum needs altering, either to simplify for those who struggle, or to extend for those who find it too easy. Can't believe we can't use the term 'brainstorm' anymore in case it upsets epileptics, my friend with epilepsy finds this ridiculous.

Yes i was told to call black prople black but at my training session the (black) lady running it ended by telling us that , by the wa her elderly Jamaican mother refers to herself as coloured!! Its a minefield! Baa baa black sheep is in no way derogatory but merely descriptive. Whoever saw s pink sheep?
The term special needs covers such a wide spectrum from dyslexic to severely autistic that its a pretty unhelpful term.

Nanna58 I too am Epileptic & don't find "brainstorming" offensive, irritating yes as it's just another Americanism. Also I have seizures, the term "fits" hasn't been used for some years.

I am Disabled, according to DWP I am classified as being "severely disabled" & entitled to extra money as no-one claims Carers Allowance for me. I do claim PIP.

I have a "disability" ergo I'm "disabled" not "unabled". if any-one said that to me they'd better be standing well away from me

As for Baa baa pink sheep that's silly beyond words, sheep are white or black generally, only pink if Farmer has sprayed them as they sometimes do with lambs

My DSIL is half afro-carribbean and prefers to be called black although he's a lovely shade of brown.I sometimes refer to my two cats as furbabies, I love the word. Our toilet is a loo, our hall is a lobby and our master bedroom is, according to the grandchildren, the olds room.

I do have problems with colour. Why is it that someone who is mixed race, 50/50 black and white like Mr Obama, is classed as black?

A chap I used to work with always laughed at the fact he was the ethnic minority in the office. I thought it was a joke because he had a very strong London accent and it wasn't until he came back from holiday and I remarked that he'd acquired a very strong tan that he laughed and asked why, hadn't I realised he was black! I just thought he was rather dishy.

I don't like 'disabled toilet'. They should call a plumber.

I've never liked to see "family butcher" or "cats eyes removed". Perhaps I'm too squeamish

Haha!

I'm only 4ft 8. I am short, not vertically challenged. So there!