Bias: 

An inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned, that projects favorable or unfavorable dispositions toward people based on their perceived or actual identities (e.g. ability, age, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status). Bias can affect a person's understanding, actions and decisions. Bias may be conscious/explicit or unconscious/implicit. 

Gender:

The cultural categorization of people based on the expected characteristics, behaviors, and roles that a society associates with being male or female (and sometimes intersex). The most common genders are man/boy and woman/girl, but some cultures have third or fourth genders, for example, non-binary, two-spirit (Indigenous American), hijra (South Asian). Gender traits and attributes can vary culturally and throughout history. Gender is not a synonym for biological sex.

Gender Identity: 

Gender identity is a person’s innate sense of their own gender, how they perceive themselves and what they call themselves. This includes the gender binary of man and woman, as well as identities in between or outside the gender binary. One’s gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth.

Identity:

A person’s sense of self defined by distinguishing physical, psychological, and interpersonal characteristics and/or social roles.

Identity First Language: 

“Identity-First Language” focuses first on a person’s qualifying identity, often a disability, when describing them. Their disability becomes the central component of the person’s identity and does not separate the person from their disability. This type of language allows individuals and communities to reclaim their disability as a positive social identity and express pride in their shared culture.

Identity-First Language: Autistic Person
People-First Language: Person with Autism

Inclusive: 

Creating intentional space, both physical and behavioral, that honors individual uniqueness and fosters a sense of belonging for anyone and everyone.

Intersectionality:

The idea that multiple identities intersect to create a whole identity. These identities that can intersect include gender, race, social class, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, age, mental disability, physical disability, mental illness, and physical illness as well as other forms of identity. These aspects of identity are not mutually exclusive. Each element or trait of a person is inseparably linked with all other elements.

Microaggression:

Indirect, subtle, and sometimes unintentional behavior that conveys a hostile, derogatory, or negative message towards an individual or group of people. This behavior can be verbal, nonverbal, and/or environmental.

People First Language: 

“Person-First Language” is a way of communicating that acknowledges and respects the humanity of an individual first and foremost in relation to their qualifying identity, often in reference to a person’s disability. Person-First Language puts the person before the disability and describes what a person has, not who a person is.

Person-First Language: Person with a disability
Identity First Language: Disabled person

Race:

The cultural categorization of people based on shared physical characteristics, social factors, and cultural backgrounds.

Sex:

The classification of individuals as male, female, or intersex based on their biological and physiological characteristics, such as reproductive organs, hormones, and chromosomes. A person’s biological sex cannot change. However, some intersex people are incorrectly assigned male or female at birth.  A person’s biological sex may or may not be a determining factor in their gender identity.

Sexual Orientation:

A person's sexual identity in relation to the gender of those to which they are romantically and/or sexually attracted. Common sexual orientations include asexual, bisexual, heterosexual (or straight), homosexual (or gay or lesbian), and pansexual, among others. A person can have distinct sexual orientations in terms of romance and sexual activity. For example, a person can be sexually asexual (experiencing no sexual attraction to anyone) and romantically bisexual (experiencing romantic attraction to both men and women).

Verbal & Written Language: 

Communication using language in either written or spoken form.

Examples: Lecture content, handouts, clinical vignettes, discussion questions, sources, linked resources, simulations, captions.

Visual/Media:

Communication that can be perceived by the eyes. 

 Examples: Images, handouts, photos, clipart, videos, drawings on handouts, slides or materials, simulations, headshots of presenters or source authors.