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A Way with Words and Images


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Appropriate words
Instead of... Please use...
Birth defect, congenital defect, deformity Person born with a disability, person who has a congenital disability
Blind (the), visually impaired (the) Person who is blind, person with a visual impairment
Confined to a wheelchair, wheelchair-bound Person who uses a wheelchair, wheelchair user
Cripple, crippled, lame Person with a disability, person with a mobility impairment, person who has a spinal cord injury, arthritis, etc.
Hard of hearing (the), hearing impaired

Person who is hard of hearing
Note: These individuals are not deaf and may compensate for a hearing loss with an amplification device or system.
Deaf-mute, deaf and dumb

Person who is deaf
Note: Culturally-linguistically deaf people (that is, sign language users) are properly identified as ”the Deaf” (upper-case “D”). People who do not use sign language are properly referred to as “the deaf” (lower-case “d”) or “persons who are deaf.”
Epileptic (the) Person who has epilepsy
Fit, attack, spell Seizure
Handicapped (the) Person with a disability
Handicapped parking, bathrooms Disability parking, bathrooms
Inarticulate, incoherent Person who has a speech disorder, person who has a speech disability
Insane (unsound mind), lunatic, maniac, mental patient, mentally diseased, mentally ill, neurotic, psychotic

Person with a mental health disability
Note: The term “insane” (unsound mind) should only be used in a strictly legal sense.
The expression “person with a mental health disability” is broad. If relevant to the story, you can specify the type of disability, for example, “person who has depression” or “person who has schizophrenia.”
Invalid Person with a disability
Learning disabled, learning disordered, dyslexic (the) Person with a learning disability
Mentally retarded, defective, feeble minded, idiot, imbecile, moron, retarded, simple, mongoloid

Person with an intellectual disability
Note: If relevant to the story, specify the type of disability.
Normal Person without a disability
Person who has trouble… Person who needs…
Physically challenged, physically handicapped, physically impaired Person with a disability
Spastic Person who has spasms
Suffers from, stricken with, afflicted by

Person with a disability
Note: People with disabilities do not necessarily suffer.
Victim of cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, etc.

Person who has cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, etc.
Person with a mobility impairment, person with a disability

Appropriate images

  • Use images that show people with disabilities participating in society. Do not use images that isolate or call special attention to people with disabilities unless they are appropriate to the subject matter.
  • Use actors or models with disabilities to portray people with disabilities.
  • Present the typical individual who has a disability, rather than depicting him or her as a super-achiever.

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Date Modified: 2007-07-20

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