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Diversity in Diction - Equality in Action

A Guide to the Appropriate Use of Language

4. Disability and Language

The language and terminology generally used for disability and to describe disabled people communicates an overwhelmingly negative message. It is important that we use language to communicate a more positive image of disability.

Both potential and existing disabled employees need to know that their skills and abilities are valued. For service providers, the language used should convey a respect for the rights of disabled people. It is important to inspire confidence that people's needs are properly understood and will be met in a way which affords independence and dignity.

Awareness of disability issues is slowly improving in Britain, including the use of more appropriate language, but there is still confusion over the best way of referring to people with a disability. It is also important to remember that everyone is an individual and care should be taken when 'labelling' or making assumptions about an individual's abilities or disabilities. We should take care not to assume that everyone from a particular group or with the same medical condition is the same.

Indeed some people may not even consider themselves to have a disability. For example, a Deaf person using British Sign Language may regard this as a linguistic issue rather than one of disability.

The following section explains some of the background and nuances of some terms currently in use.

Disabled People

This term is advocated by the British Council of Disabled People's Organisations and the Disabled People's Movement. It recognises that people are disabled more by society than by their impairment. Since the emergence of the disability rights movement, use of this term has come to signify solidarity with the collective identity.

People with Disabilities

This term has historically been considered positive, because it emphasises people with impairments are first and foremost people. However, while it is unlikely to cause actual offence, it has been rejected by the Disabled People's Movement in the UK.

The Social Dimension of Disability

The Disabled People's Movement prefer the term 'Disabled People' as this reflects an understanding that functional limitations arising from disabled people's impairments do not inevitably restrict their ability to participate fully in society. It is environmental factors (such as the structure of a building, or an organisation's practices), which restrict a disabled individual's ability to participate fully in society. Society, therefore, 'disables' the individual and it is as important to consider which aspects of an organisation's or body's activities create difficulties for a disabled person as it is to understand the particular nature of an individual's impairment.

Handicapped

Many disabled people regard 'handicapped' as offensive because of its strong historical associations with mental defectiveness, permanent incapacity and dependency. It also suggests inability to succeed in a competitive environment.

People with Special Needs

In most cases there is generally nothing particularly 'special' about disabled people's needs, we all have different, specific needs. However, society has not equipped itself to accommodate everybody's needs as a matter of course, so alternative provision often has to be made. This phrase may offend some people as it may be perceived as patronising.

The Disabled, the Blind, the Deaf

Using terms like 'the disabled' and 'the blind' tends to dehumanise people, identifying them in terms of their physical condition. They group together people who have no connection with each other, other than that they share a physical condition. If it is necessary to refer to a physical condition it is better to say, for example, 'hearing impaired people' or 'visually impaired people'.

An Arthritic, an Epileptic, a Diabetic

A person is not an impairment. Using this kind of label again tends to dehumanise people by implying that a medical condition is the single most significant fact about someone. If it is relevant to refer to a medical condition it is better to say 'a person with epilepsy' or 'people who have diabetes', for example.

Deafness

People who use equipment to improve their hearing (e.g. hearing aids or amplifiers) are known as 'people with hearing loss'. People who lose their hearing completely, especially in adult life, are 'deafened' or 'deaf.

People who are born with no hearing and who use British Sign Language are 'Deaf' with a capital 'D'. Deaf people are a community in their own right. They have their own culture and most do not consider themselves as disabled or as having a disability. However, because of their communication support needs their rights are protected under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Dumb

The word 'dumb' has acquired associations with a lack of intelligence so should be avoided. If someone is unable to speak then it is preferable to use the term 'people with a speech difficulty' or 'people with non verbal communication' or 'people who use verbal communication aids'.

Mental Handicap

The reasons for avoiding the term 'handicap' are explained above. Some people also confuse mental disability with mental illness. It is preferable to use the term 'learning difficulty'. People with learning difficulties do not have mental health problems as a consequence of their disability, although they are as prone to mental illness as anyone else.

Mental Illness

Some people confuse learning difficulty with mental illness which can affect anyone irrespective of ability. Mental illness can take many forms and there are several terms which might be used, such as referring to someone as having a 'psychological', 'emotional' or 'behavioural difficulty'.

Other Common Phrases

Many words and phrases commonly used in relation to disability create a view of disabled people as helpless, dependent and limited, such as 'confined to a wheelchair' or 'wheelchair-bound'. If wheelchairs are restrictive, it is because we live in an environment built for non-users of wheelchairs. An effective and accurate alternative term is wheelchair-user.

It is also common for words and phrases to be used to refer to disabling conditions which imply that a great deal of pain and suffering is involved, for example:

These emotive terms emphasise the supposedly tragic nature of a disability and identify the individual solely through his or her physical condition. This portrayal of a person as a victim, crippled, afflicted and suffering, is more likely to inspire pity than confidence. Some disabled people will suffer as a consequence of their disability, but this is not necessarily always the case. If you have to refer to a person's condition at all, it is far better to use neutral terms such as 'had', 'has', or 'with'. For example: she had polio, he has epilepsy, or she is a person with spina bifida.

Alternative Terminology

Be careful with new terminology. For example, 'physically challenged' has been suggested to replace 'disabled'. This spawned a string of spoof terms such as chronologically challenged and vertically challenged. These terms are not accepted or advocated by disabled people's groups in Britain, and should be avoided.

Unacceptable Terminology

Terms of abuse in language have origins in negative perceptions of disability. Their use contributes to the negative image of disability prevalent in society, and should be not be used. For example:

These were originally medical terms but their meaning has now been greatly devalued. We are generally more sensitive today in avoiding use of such words to describe disabled people, but they have not yet disappeared.

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