Items starting with W
Words to use and avoid
Source: Inclusive language: words to use and avoid when writing about disability, 15 March 2021
Consider these guidelines when communicating with or about disabled people:
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- The word ‘disabled’ is a description not a group of people. Use ‘disabled people’ not ‘the disabled’ as the collective term.
- However, many deaf people whose first language is BSL consider themselves part of ‘the deaf community’ – they may describe themselves as ‘Deaf’, with a capital D, to emphasise their deaf identity.
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Words to use and avoid
Avoid passive, victim words. Use language that respects disabled people as active individuals with control over their own lives.
Avoid | Use |
---|---|
(the) handicapped, (the) disabled | disabled (people) |
afflicted by, suffers from, victim of | has [name of condition or impairment] |
confined to a wheelchair, wheelchair-bound | wheelchair user |
mentally handicapped, mentally defective, retarded, subnormal | with a learning disability (singular) with learning disabilities (plural) |
cripple, invalid | disabled person |
spastic | person with cerebral palsy |
able-bodied | non-disabled |
mental patient, insane, mad | person with a mental health condition |
deaf and dumb; deaf mute | deaf, user of British Sign Language (BSL), person with a hearing impairment |
the blind | people with visual impairments; blind people; blind and partially sighted people |
an epileptic, diabetic, depressive, and so on | person with epilepsy, diabetes, depression or someone who has epilepsy, diabetes, depression |
dwarf; midget | someone with restricted growth or short stature |
fits, spells, attacks | seizures |