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USING APPROPRIATE DISABILITY LANGUAGE
LANGUAGE
Language is continually evolving, including language related to people with
disabilities. Staying current is important, not to show “politically correctness” but
to communicate effectively and with respect. What you say and write may
enhance the dignity of people with disabilities or may inadvertently reflect
stereotypes and negative attitudes.
Some words and phrases don’t recognize the broad range of capabilities of
people with disabilities. They don’t need or want to be pitied, nor should they be
labeled “courageous” or “special” because they accomplish daily activities or
work. Also, people are sometimes concerned that they will say the wrong thing,
so they say nothing at all – further segregating people with disabilities.
“Handicap” and “disability” are not synonyms! Disability is a generic term
for a condition which may affect a person’s mobility, hearing, vision, speech, or
cognitive function (such as paraplegia, deafness, TBI). Handicap describes an
environmental or attitudinal barrier (such as no ramp or elevator, information
not available in Braille, negative stereotypes).
Avoid referring to someone as their disability. For example, “person who
uses a wheelchair” or “man with epilepsy” is preferred over “wheelchair person”
or “the epileptic”, which define the person as a disability rather than as one
aspect of their life. However, some individuals self-identify their group as “the
blind” or “the Deaf.” Also, many people prefer to use “people first” language
(“person with a disability,” rather than “disabled person”). Ask people which
term they would prefer.
Common words and phrases are okay to use. For example, it’s fine to say
“see you later” to a blind person, or “want to go for a walk?” to a wheelchair
user. Mention a disability only when it is relevant to the discussion. Also, when
talking with a person who has a disability, look at and speak directly to that
person rather than to a companion, aide, or sign language interpreter.
Do not make personal inquiries about the person’s disability, such as
 what happened?
 what’s wrong with you?
 how did you become disabled?
 how fast does that wheelchair go?
 why do you have a service animal?
King County Civil Rights, Office of Equity and Social Justice (Seattle, WA)
WHEN REFERRING TO PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES,
CHOOSE WORDS THAT REFLECT DIGNITY AND RESPECT, SUCH AS:
INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE
APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE
impairment, physically challenged,
differently abled, handicapable, impaired,
crippled, suffers from, afflicted with, poor,
deformed, stricken with, victim of, diseased,
invalid, abnormal, defective, specially abled
the disabled
has a disability, is a person with a disability, woman who is
physically disabled, person who walks with a cane, man who
has a respiratory condition, is a person with AIDS, person
with epilepsy, has a chronic health condition
people with disabilities, the disability community
(disabled is an adjective, not a noun)
normal person, able-bodied, healthy, whole
special, special needs
handicap parking, disabled parking
confined to a wheelchair, wheelchair bound,
wheelchair person
electric chair
paraplegic, quadriplegic, crip, gimp, lame
hearing impaired, hearing impairment
visually impaired, visual impairment
the blind, the deaf
dumb, mute
stutterer, tongue-tied
cerebral palsy victim, cerebral palsied,
spastic, a CP person
the autistic
epileptic
fit, attack, spell
dwarf, midget, vertically challenged
birth defect, defective, deformed
post-polio person, suffered from polio
mentally ill, mentally/emotionally disturbed,
crazy, nuts, insane, psycho, schizo, mental
case, whacko
manic-depressive
retard, mental defective, moron, idiot, slow,
dimwit, imbecile, Down’s person, Down’s
Syndrome, Down Syndrome child, short bus,
mongoloid, feeble-minded, special ed
slow learner, retarded, ADHD person
veg, vegetable
non-disabled, person without disabilities, does not have a
disability
has specific needs, disability needs/requirements
accessible parking, disability parking
wheelchair user, person who uses a wheelchair (or scooter)
wheelchair, power chair
man with paraplegia, woman with paralysis, person with
spinal cord injury, has a mobility disability, walks with
difficulty, cannot walk
deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, hearing loss, partially
deaf
has low vision, partially sighted, blind
the blind community, the Deaf community
person who does not speak, has difficulty speaking, uses
synthetic speech, is non-vocal, is non-verbal
person with a speech or communication disability
person with cerebral palsy, person who has CP
person on the autism spectrum, person with autism
person with epilepsy, person with seizure disorder
seizure, epileptic episode or event
person of small stature / short stature; little person
has a congenital disability, has had a disability since birth,
was born with a disability
person who had polio, person with post polio syndrome, polio
survivor
person with mental health issue or condition, psychiatric
disability
bipolar disorder
person with an intellectual / cognitive / developmental
disability, a person with Down syndrome
has a learning disability, person with a learning disability,
person with ADHD
comatose, non-responsive