According to the Centers for Disease Control, 61 million Americans have a disability.1  That means 26% of people in the United States—1 in 4—have some type of disability. In Louisiana, approximately 1,122,487 people have a disability, which is equal to 33% or 1 in 3 adults.2  15% of Louisiana adults have a mobility disability, 16% a cognitive disability, 8% a hearing impairment, and 8% a vision impairment. Everyone has the possibility of experiencing disability, even if only temporarily, at some point during their lifetime. That likelihood increases as we age. These statistics show that the likelihood of a client needing an accommodation is relatively high. As attorneys, we have an obligation to recognize our client’s varied needs and understand how to address them.

• 1Ctrs. for Disease Control & Prevention, Disability Impacts All of Us,(last reviewed Oct. 28, 2022).
• 2Nat’l Ctr. on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Ctrs. for Disease Control & Prevention, Disability Impacts Louisiana.

A disability is any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities for an individual.1  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) also defines disability as a person who has a history or record of such impairment or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.2  The ADA’s broad definition of disability allows a broad application of its protections. A major life activity is a function that is important to most people’s daily lives, such as breathing, walking, talking, hearing, seeing, sleeping, eating, caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, and working.3

• 142 U.S.C § 12102(1).
• 2Id.
• 342 U.S.C § 12102(2).

For people who may be unfamiliar with disability-appropriate language, it’s important to know how to talk about disability to avoid language that may be hurtful or offensive. The number one point to remember is to use people-first language. That means you refer to the person before the disability. Instead of saying “a disabled person,” say “a person with a disability.” By making clear that the individual is a person, not a disability, you recognize the humanity of an individual with a disability. It is also important to remember how offensive it is to refer to a group of humans as “the” anything. For instance, avoid using phrases such as “the disabled” or “the impaired” because doing so describes a group of human beings as a thing. People are not things.

The law includes antiquated terms which are no longer socially acceptable or appropriate, such as “retarded”, a term that the medical community no longer uses for diagnosis. However, older medical records and caselaw include this term. As attorneys and advocates, we should be mindful of the words we use and the impact the use of some words may have. Even if we encounter records or caselaw using this term, we should replace it with “developmental disability” or “intellectual disability/impairment” or the actual diagnosis that the person has. Similarly, the term “handicapped” is no longer the appropriate terminology to use. While it should never be used to describe a person, it is still a commonly used term when describing a thing, such as a parking space or a bathroom. Nevertheless, the more appropriate term is “accessible”. We can choose not to perpetuate the use of terms that are outdated, offensive, and no longer provide meaningful information about the individual.

While there are some terms that are on the “no-no” list, and the general rule is to use the people-first language, the bottom line is to always look to the individual with the disability and how that individual prefers to be referenced. For example, there is a difference between capitalizing “Deaf” and using the lowercase “deaf”. For that community, the lowercase “deaf” is used when referring to the audiological condition of not hearing, and the uppercase “Deaf” is used when referring to a particular group of deaf people who share a language—American Sign Language (ASL)—and a culture. While it is not necessary to know every nuance of each individual's or community’s preferred terminology, it is necessary to recognize what you don’t know and to look to the individual for guidance. It is always acceptable to ask the individual how they prefer to refer to their disability and what language they prefer to use.

An accommodation is an alternative to the default mode of doing something that reduces or eliminates barriers that impede the ability to a person with a disability to access a public space or service on the same terms as a person without a disability. An accommodation thus “levels the playing field” for individuals with disabilities.

From a human perspective, we do not want to exclude people. From a legal perspective, the ADA prohibits discrimination or exclusion on the basis of disability, while in the context of court or administrative proceedings, everyone has a constitutional right to due process. The failure to provide an accommodation so that an individual is able to meaningful participate is tantamount to a violation of due process.