Disability Etiquette Tips
The following piece on “Disability Etiquette” is an excerpt from the United Spinal Association “Tips On Interacting With People With Disabilities.” These tips are designed to help you understand what to do and what not to do when in the company of a person with a disability.
People Who Use Wheelchairs or Have Mobility Impairments
People who use wheelchairs have different disabilities and varying abilities. Some can use their arms and hands. Some get out of their wheelchairs and even walk short distances. Wheelchair users are people, not equipment. Don’t lean over someone in a wheelchair to shake another person’s hand or ask a wheelchair user to hold coats. Setting your drink on the desktop attached to someone’s wheelchair is a definite no-no.
Don’t push or touch a person’s wheelchair; it’s a part of his or her personal space. If you help someone down a curb without waiting for instructions, you may dump him or her out of the chair. You may detach the chairs parts if you lift it by the handles or the foot rest. Keep the ramps and wheelchair accessible doors to your building unlocked and unblocked. Under the ADA, displays should not be in front of entrances, wastebaskets should not be in the middle of aisles and boxes should not be stored on ramps.
Be aware of wheelchair users’ reach limits. Place as many items as possible within their grasp. Make sure that there is a clear path of travel to shelves and display racks. When talking to a wheelchair user, grab your own chair and sit at his or her level. If that’s not possible, stand at a slight distance, so that the person is not straining his or her neck to make eye contact with you. If the service counter at your place of business is too high for a wheelchair user to see over, step around it to provide service. Have a clipboard handy if filling out forms or providing signatures is expected. If your building has different routes through it, be sure that signs direct wheelchair users to the most accessible ways around the facility.
People who walk with a cane or crutches also need to know the easiest way to get around a place, but stairs may be easier for them than a ramp. Ensure that security guards and receptionists can answer questions about the most accessible way around the building or grounds. If the nearest public restroom is not accessible or is located on an inaccessible floor, allow the person in a wheelchair to use a private or employee’s accessible restroom.
People who use canes or crutches need their arms to balance themselves, so never grab them. People who are mobility impaired may lean on a door for support as they open it. Pushing the door open from behind or unexpectedly opening the door may cause them to fall. Even pulling out or pushing in a chair may present a problem. Always ask before offering help.
If you offer a seat to a person who is mobility impaired, keep in mind that shairs with arms or higher seats are easier for some people to use. Falls are a big problem for people with mobility impairments. Be sure to set out adequate warning signs after washing floors. Also put out mats on raily or snowy days to keep the floors as dry as possible. (Make sure they bon’t bunch up and make the floor impassable for wheelchair users.)
People who are not visibly mobility impaired may have needs related to their mobility. For example, a person with a respiratory or heart condition may have trouble walking long distances or walking quickly. Be sure that your business has ample benches for people to sit and rest on.
Some people have limited use of their hands, wrists or arms. Be prepared to offer assistance with reaching for, grasping or lifting objects, opening doors and display cases and operating vending machines or other equipment.
*Editor’s note: Please remember to always ask before providing assistance.
from Spring 2007 Newsletter, Volume 2, Issue 2
