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Person First Language: Guidelines For Discussing People With Disabilities
This article is from page 4 of "Tools for Teachers" from the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities. "Tools for Teachers" is in PDF format and is 88 pages long. This document also contains sections on: Creating Meaningful IEPs (pages 5-16), Curriculum Modifications & Adaptations, Collaborative Teaming, Positive Behavioral Supports, Social Relationships and Social Networks, Transitions, Ideas That Have Worked and an Annotated Bibliography of Inclusion Resources.
It’s the "Person First" - THEN the Disability
If you saw a person in a wheelchair unable to get up the stairs into a building, would you say "there is a handicapped person unable to find a ramp?" Or would you say "there is a person with a disability who is handicapped by an inaccessible building?" What is the proper way to speak to or about someone who has a disability?
Consider how you would introduce someone - Jane Doe - who doesn’t have a disability. You would give her name, where she lives, what she does or what she is interested in - she likes swimming, or eating Mexican food, or watching Robert Redford movies.
Why say it differently for a person with disabilities? Every person is made up of many characteristics - mental as well as physical - few want to be identified only by their ability to play tennis or by their love for fried onions or by the mole that’s on their face. Those are just parts of us.
Person first language
In speaking or writing, remember that children or adults with disabilities are like everyone else - except they happen to have a disability. Therefore, here are a few tips for improving your language related to disabilities and handicaps.
1. Speak of the person first, then the disability.
2. Emphasize abilities, not limitations.
3. Do not label people as part of a disability group - don’t say "disabled", say "people with disabilities."
4. Don’t give excessive praise or attention to a person with a disability; don’t patronize them.
5. Choice and independence are important; let the person do or speak for him or herself as much as possible; if addressing an adult, say "Bill" instead of "Billy."
6. A disability is a functional limitation that interferes with a person’s ability to walk, hear, talk, learn, etc. use handicap to describe a situation or barrier imposed by society, the environment, or oneself.
SAY...
child with a disability
INSTEAD OF...
disabled or handicapped child
SAY...
person with cerebral palsy
INSTEAD OF...
palsied, or C.P., or spastic
SAY...
person who has...
INSTEAD OF...
afflicted, suffers from, victim
SAY...
without speech, nonverbal
INSTEAD OF...
mute, or dumb
SAY...
developmental delay
INSTEAD OF...
slow
SAY...
emotional disorder or mental illness
INSTEAD OF...
crazy or insane
SAY...
deaf or hearing impaired
INSTEAD OF...
deaf or dumb
SAY...
uses a wheelchair
INSTEAD OF...
confined to a wheelchair
SAY...
person with mental retardation
INSTEAD OF...
retarded
SAY...
has a learning disability
INSTEAD OF...
is learning disabled
SAY...
non-disabled
INSTEAD OF...
normal or healthy
SAY...
has a physical disability
INSTEAD OF...
crippled
SAY...
congenital disability
INSTEAD OF...
birth defect
