Language and Disability
The portrayal of people with disabilities has been fraught with contradictions because of ambivalent attitudes towards disability. People with disabilities have often been described as helpless people to be pitied and cared for. Because people are often uncomfortable or embarrassed about disability, many euphemisms have been created to describe disability and people with disabilities.
Linguistic portrayal of people with disabilities
What is the difference between a disability and an impairment?
Disability and 'humour'
Representation of people with disabilities in case materials and illustrations
Acknowledgments
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Linguistic portrayal of people with disabilities
Discriminatory language in relation to the portrayal of people with disabilities is characterised by derogatory labelling, by depersonalising, by emphasising the disability rather than the person, and by stereotyping.
Derogatory labelling
The discriminatory nature of derogatory labels used to describe members of minority groups is often obvious. However, in the case of people with disabilities, labels such as 'cripple', 'mongoloid', 'deaf and dumb', or 'retarded' are still commonly used, and should be avoided. Some acceptable alternatives for such labels are 'person with a mobility impairment', 'person with Down's Syndrome', 'person with hearing and speech disabilities', 'person with an intellectual disability'.
Depersonalising or impersonal reference
Often people with a disability are referred to collectively as the disabled, the handicapped, the mentally retarded, the blind, the deaf, or paraplegics, spastics, epileptics, etc. These terms have the effect of depersonalising the description of people and equating the person with the disability. These impersonal references to people with disabilities should be avoided. The following terms are generally preferred as they recognise that the disability is only one characteristic of the person or persons:
- person with a disability
- people with disabilities
- students / employees with disabilities
If it is necessary or desirable to be more specific about the type of disability involved, the same strategy is recommended - that is, not to focus entirely on the person's disability in the description. Do not put the disability first and the person second. The following are some commonly used phrases and suggested alternatives:
Instead of - Use - the disabled / the handicapped / disabled people people with disabilities the physically handicapped people with physical disabilities a paraplegic, paraplegics people with paraplegia an epileptic a person with epilepsy the deaf people who are deaf / hearing impaired /people who have a hearing disability a spastic disabled people / a person with cerebral palsy If it is appropriate to refer to a person's disability, choose the correct terminology for the specific disability. For example:
people who are blind / have a sight disability / are vision impaired (depending upon the degree of impairment); mobility impaired;
people with, or who have, cerebral palsy; Down's Syndrome; a mental illness; an intellectual disability; paraplegia; quadriplegia; epilepsy; a speech impairment.
The use of imprecise terms such as 'physically challenged', 'differently abled', and other euphemisms for people with disabilities, is strongly discouraged.
Stereotyping
The portrayal of people with disabilities as helpless, mindless, suffering beings deserving the sympathy and attention of the non-disabled is one of many powerful stereotypes which has led and continues to lead to discriminatory treatment of people with disabilities. People with disabilities should be portrayed in a positive manner.
Positive portrayal of people with disabilities is mainly a matter of presenting them as individuals with a variety of qualities. It does not mean that a person's disability should be hidden, ignored or seen as irrelevant. However, it should not be the focus of description except when the topic is disability.
Be careful not to imply that people with disabilities are to be pitied, feared or ignored, or that they are somehow more heroic, courageous, patient or 'special' than others. Never use the terms 'normal' or 'able-bodied' in contrast.
Never use the terms 'victim' or 'sufferer' to refer to a person who has or has had an illness, disease or disability. These terms dehumanise the person and emphasise powerlessness. For example,
victim of AIDS or AIDS sufferer people who are HIV positive / a person who has AIDS polio victim person who had polio A person in a wheelchair is a 'wheelchair user' or 'uses a wheelchair'. Avoid terms that define the disability as a limitation, such as 'confined to a wheelchair', or 'wheelchair bound'.
What is the difference between a disability and an impairment ?
The World Health Organisation defines disability and impairment as follows:
| disability | any restriction or lack (resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered usual for a human being |
| impairment | any loss or dysfunction of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function. |
Disability and 'humour'
Discriminatory 'jokes' about people with disabilities are offensive to many people, and should be avoided.
Representation of people with disabilities in case materials and illustrations
It is important to extend the non-discriminatory portrayal of people with disabilities to their presentation in case materials and illustrations. For example, people with disabilities should not be excluded from illustrations unrelated to the topic of disability, nor should they be portrayed as oddities or as objects of curiosity.
Acknowledgments
The above information is taken from the brochure titled 'Language Matters' and is primarily based on Anne Pauwels, Non-Discriminatory Language and other references.
