Home Society and culture Equality, rights and citizenship Equality Inclusive communication. Cabinet Office. Disability Unit. Contents 1. Language guidelines 2. Words to use and avoid 3. Some tips on behaviour Print this page. Consider these guidelines when communicating with or about disabled people. Language guidelines Not everyone will agree on everything but there is general agreement on some basic guidelines. People with disabilities can and do have talents which are often not being utilized.
Atkinson, Rebecca. Mikkelson, David. Okrent, Arika. Recourses: Atkinson, Rebecca. Monday to Friday. People with disabilities are, first and foremost, people. Labeling a person equates the person with a condition and can be disrespectful and dehumanizing. This is called Person-First Language.
People with disabilities have different preferences when referring to their disability. Some people see their disability as an essential part of who they are and prefer to be identified with their disability first — this is called Identity-First Language. Others prefer Person-First Language. Examples of Identity-First Language include identifying someone as a deaf person instead of a person who is deaf , or an autistic person instead of a person with autism.
Do not use language that portrays the person as passive or suggests a lack of something: victim , invalid , defective. Terms like differently-abled , challenged , handi-capable or special are often considered condescending. Examples of offensive language include freak, retard, lame, imbecile, vegetable, cripple, crazy, or psycho. In discussions that include people both with and without disabilities, do not use words that imply negative stereotypes of those with disabilities.
People with disabilities can be healthy, although they may have a chronic condition such as arthritis or diabetes. Only refer to someone as a patient when his or her relationship with a health care provider is under discussion. Much work needs to be done to break down stigma around psychiatric disabilities. The American Psychiatric Association has new guidelines for communicating responsibly about mental health.
Do not use mute. Spinal Cord Injury. Describes a condition where there has been permanent damage to the spinal cord. Quadriplegia describes substantial or total loss of function in all four extremities. Paraplegia refers to substantial ot total loss of function in the lower part of the body only. Say man with paraplegia, woman who is paralyzed. Visually Impaired is the generic term preferred by some individuals to refer to all degrees of vision loss.
Examples: boy who is blind, girl who is visually impaired, man who has low vision. Skip Menu. Guidelines for Writing and Referring to People with Disabilities. Do not refer to a disability or condition unless it is crucial to your subject and relates to the full understanding of your listener or reader. Avoid portraying as superhuman the accomplishments of a person with a disability. This inadvertently implies that a person with a disability lacks or has very limited skills, talents, or unusual gifts.
Do not use subjective terms such as afflicted with, victim of, troubled with, suffering from and so on. Such expressions convey negative connotations. It is preferable to use an expression such as a person who has a specific disability. Avoid labeling persons and putting them in categories, as in the handicapped, the disabled, the deaf, the retarded, the learning disabled ,and so on. Instead, use terminology such as: a person who has multiple sclerosis, people with disabilities, a person with deafness , and so on.
Emphasize the individual not the disability.
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