Advocacy for Inclusion

"providing individual and systemic advocacy to improve life for people who have a disability"

Position Paper

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Non-discriminatory Language and People who have a Disability:
Inclusive Communities Through People First Language

The use of appropriate language when talking about people who are marginalised within society is of immense importance. Every person in society has an opportunity to positively or negatively influence how others are perceived and treated. Advocacy for Inclusion is committed to the principle that all people have the same human, social and legal rights and responsibilities and affirms an inclusive society that provides opportunities and support for all people to participate. Communities are made better when they actively encourage and value the contribution of all members. Language that creates barriers to inclusion and denies the value of an individual’s contributions is unacceptable.

Words are powerful. The difference between valuing and devaluing people who have a disability can be as simple as the language that we choose. It is imperative that we treat people who have a disability with respect at all times, respect and dignity are among the basic rights of every human being.

Describing people by their medical diagnoses devalues and disrespects them, creating an invisible, artificial barrier that is one of the greatest obstacles facing people who have a disability. When we think of people in terms of their disability, we end up using the disability to define their potential and value and thus limit our expectations of them as a contributing member of society. This can suppress their hopes and dreams. It is important to remember that disability is a social construct fashioned by other people and the environment. Everyone has unique and different abilities that can be valued by society; it is only when society does not recognise the various abilities inherent in each individual that people are labelled with ‘disability’. The label disability is also used to identify people who may be entitled to specific services or legal protections because of certain characteristics.

The way we think is reflected in the way we speak so there are some crucial things to remember when thinking about disability.

• Disability is not a constant but is fashioned by environment. Some environments, such as inaccessible buildings or unsatisfactory educational institutions, reinforce limitations on people who have a disability. Within inclusive and supportive environments a disability is simply one aspect out of many that makes an individual unique.
• Disability is often spoken of in terms of ‘problems’, such as “she has problems learning”. It is far more effective to think about needs that can be fulfilled, such as “she needs assistance in learning.”
• The language of disability is not about being ‘politically correct’ but is about removing the stereotypes and derogation brought about by the use of labels, ensuring everyone is treated with respect.

A disability does not define who a person is: people who have a disability are fundamentally people; a disability is only one aspect of the sum total of a unique individual.

In every instance it is important to avoid using language that:

• considers the disability before the person;
• classes people according to their disability
• implies commonality derived solely from having a disability;
• utilises slang or derivative terms for disabilities; or
• makes generalisations.

We hope to see suitable, positive, elevating language used by politicians, journalists and others in the public eye, and this will only be achieved when the community refuses to accept labelling of people who have a disability, or of any other marginalised group. There is an emphasis on community organisations to lead the way, showing the awareness and use of respectful language in all forms of communication.

As the public representatives of people who have a disability, support groups, advocates and others have an opportunity to ensure that a respectful image of people who have a disability is portrayed on their behalf and that in all instances we model the appropriate use of language.

While people who have a disability, their families and care-givers will continue to use whatever terms they choose to speak about the impact of disability on their lives and the lives of those close to them, it is important that self-help groups and others closely involved with individuals do not publish or present in public forums language that denies people who have a disability the respect they deserve as members of the community. Everyone should be encouraged to choose language that reflects an inclusive society and that values all members of the community.

A guide to Non-discriminatory Language

Avoid…

• …Using terms like the disabled, the mentally retarded; the deaf; the blind etc. These suggest that these features are central to the person rather than being simply one aspect. It allows us to forget the person as an individual and lumps them into groups just by using “the”.
  • Instead use people who have a disability, people who are deaf, or people who are blind.
• …Describing someone as an epileptic, an arthritic, a spastic, a Downs, a Mongoloid. These make it sound as if the person is the condition itself.
  • Why not say that someone has epilepsy, cerebral palsy, etc. or that someone has an intellectual disability.
• …Describing someone as insane, a maniac, a mental patient, a psycho or of unsound mind. More labels, if a person has a psychiatric condition, and it is necessary to draw attention to the fact, treat the disability separately from the person.
  • For example say “the person who has a mental illness” or “the person who has… (specify the illness)”.
• …Using derogatory terms such as: deaf and dumb; deaf-mute; dummy; blind as a bat; cripple. Such terms are inaccurate and demeaning.
  • It is just as easy to say that someone is deaf, blind, partially sighted, unable to walk or has a physical disability.
• …Defining the disability as a limitation or ‘handicap’, such as "confined to a wheelchair" or "wheelchair-bound". A wheelchair liberates, it does not confine.
  • Say that a person uses a wheelchair.
• …Using euphemisms such as “differently abled” or “physically challenged”.
  • If a person has a physical, sensory or intellectual disability and it is necessary to draw attention to it, simply state the fact, just as you might say “the man with the brown hair”.

• Don’t describe someone as an invalid or as afflicted with; stricken with; a victim of; or suffering from a disability or mental illness. These terms make people into patients in need of cures. They indicate helplessness, dependency and defeat. People who have a disability are not sick.
• Don’t describe someone as abnormal; defected; defective. Those are terms far better suited to products such as motor vehicles. They make a person seem like an object, robbing them of dignity.
• Don’t use the term “normal” in contrast to people who have a disability, this evokes the unconscious opposite “abnormal”.
• Don’t refer to all people who have a disability as being brave or inspirational. Some are and some aren’t, just like everybody else.

Sources
APA Online, ‘Removing Bias in Language: Disabilities’, in APA Stlye.org (2003) Accessed 23/05/05
FaCS, ‘Use of Language ’, in Commonwealth Disability Strategy (2000) Accessed 23/05/05
Snow, Kathie, ‘People First Language’, in Disability is Natural (January 2005) Accessed 23/05/05
UNSW, ‘Non Discriminatory Presentation & Practice - Fair Representation of People with Disabilities’, in UNSW infoNET (February 1995) Accessed 23/05/05

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