| Acceptable
Terms |
Unacceptable
Terms |
| Person
with a disability. |
Cripple,
cripples - the image conveyed is of a twisted, deformed, useless
body. |
| Disability,
a general term used for functional limitation that interferes
with a person's ability, for example, to walk, hear or lift.
It may refer to a physical, mental or sensory condition. |
Handicap,
handicapped person or handicapped.
|
| People
with cerebral palsy, people with spinal cord injuries. |
Cerebral
palsied, spinal cord injured, etc. Never identify people solely
by their disability. |
| Person
who had a spinal cord injury, polio, a stroke, etc. or a person
who has multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, arthritis, etc. |
Victim.
People with disabilities do not like to be perceived as victims
for the rest of their lives, long after any victimization has
occurred. |
| Has
a disability, has a condition of (spina bifida, etc.), or born
without legs, etc.
|
Defective,
defect, deformed, vegetable. These words are offensive, dehumanizing,
degrading and stigmatizing. |
| Deafness/hearing
impairment. Deafness refers to a person who has a total loss
of hearing. Hearing impairment refers to a person who has a
partial loss of hearing within a range from slight to severe. Hard
of hearing describes a hearing-impaired person who communicates
through speaking and speech-reading, and who usually has listening
and hearing abilities adequate for ordinary telephone communication.
Many hard of hearing individuals use a hearing aid.
|
Deaf
and Dumb is as bad as it sounds. The inability to hear or speak
does not indicate intelligence. |
| Person
who has a mental or developmental disability. |
Retarded,
moron, imbecile, idiot. These are offensive to people who bear
the label. |
| Use
a wheelchair or crutches; a wheelchair user; walks with crutches. |
Confined/restricted
to a wheelchair; wheelchair bound. Most people who use a wheelchair
or mobility devices do not regard them as confining. They are
viewed as liberating; a means of getting around. |
| Able-bodied;
able to walk, see, hear, etc.; people who are not disabled. |
Healthy,
when used to contrast with "disabled." Healthy implies
that the person with a disability is unhealthy. Many people
with disabilities have excellent health. |
| People
who do not have a disability. |
Normal.
When used as the opposite of disabled, this implies that the
person is abnormal. No one wants to be labeled as abnormal. |
| A
person who has (name of disability.) Example: A person who has
multiple sclerosis. |
Afflicted
with, suffers from. Most people with disabilities do not regard
themselves as afflicted or suffering continually.
Afflicted: a disability is not an affliction.
|
