Disability Etiquette
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.
Put the Person First.
Say “person with a disability” rather than “disabled person.” Say “people with disabilities” rather than “the disabled.” For specific disabilities, saying “person with tourette syndrome” or “person who has cerebral palsy” is usually a safe bet. Still, individuals do have their own preferences. If you are not sure what words to use, ask.
Avoid outdated terms like “handicapped” or “crippled.” Be aware that many people with disabilities dislike jargon, euphemistic terms like “physically challenged” and “differently abled.” Say “wheelchair user” rather than “confined to a wheelchair” or “wheelchair bound.” The wheelchair is what enables the person to get around and participate in society; it’s liberating, not confining.
With any disability, avoid negative, disempowering words, like “victim” or “sufferer.” Say “person with AIDS” instead of “AIDS victim” or “person who suffers from AIDS.”
It’s okay to use idiomatic expressions when talking to people with disabilities. For example, saying, “It was good to see you,” and “See you later,” to a person who is blind is completely acceptable; they use these expressions themselves all the time!
Many people who are Deaf communicate with sign language and consider themselves to be members of a cultural and linguistic minority group. The refer to themselves as Deaf with a capital “D” and may be offended by the term “hearing impaired.” Others may not object to the term, but in general it is safest to refer to people who have hearing loss but communicate in spoken language as “hard of hearing” and to people with profound hearing losses as Deaf or deaf.
from Winter 2007 Newsletter, Volume 2 Issue 1
