Rachel's Moving Journey

Riding The Bus With My Sister is a memoir by Rachel Simons where she tells the story of how she braved the Pennsylvania city bus system for a year with her sister. Beth, who has a mental handicap, has a boyfriend, a way of life, and a loving community on the bus whereas her sister, a writer and college professor, uses her incredibly busy life to camouflage her emotional isolation and has much to learn about her sister's extraordinary world.
     One of the most interesting concepts of this book was the idea of "People's First Language," which is a form of linguistic prescriptivism in English aimed to avoid perceived and subconscious dehumanization when discussing people with mental or physical disabilities, an aspect of disability etiquette. Basically, the idea is to put the person first: for example you would refer to someone as a "person with a disability" as opposed to a "disabled person." It puts a little more humanity into the disability.
     The memoir was very moving, and it was delightful to see Rachel and Beth becoming closer as sisters, because prior to this year, the two had grown further apart as each of them developed their own identities and lives. A film adaptation was created in 2005, which I have yet to see. Although some aspects of the movie deviate from real life, Rachel Simons believes it to be "Poignant, moving and a powerful film."