2.3 Appropriate Language

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 We can choose not to perpetuate the use of terms that are outdated, offensive, and no longer provide meaningful information about the individual.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.