[on disability rights ]
Disability etiquette
Avoid/Inappropriate
|
Use/Appropriate
|
The disabled, the handicapped
|
People with disabilities
|
Cripple, physically handicapped or wheelchair bound. These
terms are patronizing.
|
A person with a physical disability/impairment or wheelchair
user
|
Spastic
|
A person with cerebral palsy
|
Deaf and dumb
|
A person
with hearing and speech impairments
|
The Blind
|
People who are B/blind, partially sighted, visually
impaired
|
The Deaf
|
People who are D/deaf, hearing impaired
|
Raising your voice or talking as if speaking to a child.
|
Maintain your usual pitch volume and rhythm when speaking
|
Interrupting a person with a speech impairment and trying
to finish sentences for them.
|
Listen patiently and ask for clarification if you have not
understood.
|
Putting your hands near your mouth when communicating with
someone who is Deaf or hearing-impaired.
|
Ensure that they have a clear view of your face
|
Playing ‘guess who’ games with people who are blind or
visually impaired
|
Introduce yourself by name to a person who is blind
|
Looking down at a person in a wheelchair for a prolonged
period
|
Sit down and talk to them this makes eye contact easier
and means they are not constantly craning their neck to look up at you.
|
Speaking to a disabled person’s friend or support worker
when your conversation is directed at the person with a disability.
|
Speak directly to the disabled person
|
It is quite appropriate to continue using words such as see,
look, walk, listen, when talking to people with various disabilities.
