dug 
Nicki first mentioned the “thought shower” thing to me when she was working at the BBC. At the time I thought it was both a bit amusing and a bit disapointing–another example of political correctness going crazy…
But one of the interesting things you pick up when working with website users is that they always surprise you and that you’re really asking for trouble if you start making assumptions based on even fairly reliable information. Nothing beats a real user talking about their real experience of your site.
Which is what led me to Ouch the BBC’s awesome resource for all to talk about their issues around disabilities. I looked up the “thought shower” thing and found this:
Does everyone HAVE to be pc?,
Can't some of us Not be pc, as long as it's not
offending anyone???
Fantastic. The brainstorm v. thought shower thread is here and makes interesting reading. For those that hadn’t come across the term before, a “thought shower” is what some well-meaning person in the NHS thought the term “brainstorm” should be replaced with so as to not offend people with epilepsy.