🔤 Disabilities

Terms for describing people with a disability

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Use clear, respectful, and precise language. Avoid defining people by a condition or making assumptions about ability.

When to include

Mention a disability only when it adds meaning.

Leave it out when it does not.

Why it matters

Unnecessary references can distract from the person and reinforce stereotypes. Relevant context can improve understanding.

Use:

• Person-first language in most cases: person with a disability, person who uses a wheelchair

• Specific, accurate descriptions when relevant: person with low vision, person who is deaf

Avoid:

• Defining people by a condition: the disabled, the blind

• Language that implies limitation or pity: suffers from, afflicted with, confined to a wheelchair

• Broad or vague terms when more specific language is available: special needs

Decision points

Person-first or identity-first?
Use the person’s or community’s preference when known.

Some groups prefer identity-first language: Deaf person, autistic person.

When in doubt, person-first language is widely accepted.

When is a disability relevant?
Include it when it helps explain the story or context. Leave it out when it does not.

How specific should I be?
Be as specific as needed for clarity but avoid unnecessary detail.

When helpful, describe how the condition affects the person rather than using a broad label: She has a condition that makes it easy for her to become lost.

What if a person prefers a specific term?
Use the language the person uses for themselves, even if it differs from general guidance.

Word choice

Use disability or disabled, avoid handicap or handicapped.

Use neutral, factual wording: has, uses, lives with.

Avoid language that implies suffering or helplessness: suffers from, victim of.

Avoid terms that frame disability as limitation: avoid confined to a wheelchair, use uses a wheelchair.

Avoid outdated terms such as mentally retarded. Use more specific and current terms, such as intellectual disability, when relevant.

Examples:

• Use: person who is deaf or person with hearing loss
  Avoid: deaf and dumb, deaf mute

• Use: person with a disability or a specific condition
  Avoid: handicapped, the disabled

• Use: has a condition
  Avoid: suffers from, afflicted with

• Use: person with schizophrenia
  Avoid: schizophrenic (as a label)

• Use: accessible
  Avoid: handicap accessible

Avoid euphemisms that can sound condescending or unclear: handicapable, physically challenged, special.

Be aware:

• Preferences vary by individual and community

• Language evolves

• Disability is one aspect of a person’s identity

Related entries

See below: ableism; accessibility; Americans with Disabilities Act.

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Introduction | Stereotyping | Race | Gender | Disabilities
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ableism

Discrimination or bias against people with disabilities.

Avoid language or assumptions that treat people with disabilities as less capable, less independent, or defined by their condition.

accessibility

Designing spaces, services, and information so people with disabilities can use them.

Be specific when possible: wheelchair-accessible entrance, captions provided.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Spell out on first reference. Use ADA on later references.

Use terms such as: ADA-compliant, meets ADA standards.

Avoid vague phrasing such as handicap accessible. Use accessible or describe the features.

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Introduction | Stereotyping | Race | Gender | Disabilities
Immigration | Religion | Health Conditions | Older Adults

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