Shock announcement! People with disabilities do not agree!

Shock announcement! People with disabilities do not agree about everything, including how they want to be described. But I hope we can all agree that words matter when writing about or communicating with people with disabilities.

1. Listen to the person

‘Disabled’ is a description. It is not a group of people. Don’t write ‘the disabled’.

The general rule is to refer to the person first and the disability, condition or diagnosis second. This is called ‘person-first language’ (when we say the person has a disability). Having said that, there are some individuals who consider their disability to be an essential and positive part of who they are and want to be identified with their disability first. This is called ‘identity-first language’ (when we say ‘a disabled person’). Identity-first language is only OK if the person you are writing to or about wants it. Discover how your readers want to be framed. It is only respectful to speak to or about a person in the way that they prefer.

Some people who access disability information, services or benefits do not identify themselves as ‘disabled people’ at all. You may need to think about different ways of describing these individuals.

2. Empower the person

Empower people with disabilities by considering if their condition is essential to the point you are making. Its fine to mention that an individual is hearing impaired if they are campaigning for British sign language in schools. It’s not fine if they have been nominated for an award for innovation in science.

Imagine I wrote about you as diseased and unwell, a victim with no control over your own life. How would you feel? Tear-jerking text which represents disabled people and their families as tragic heroes in order to raise funds or awareness of disability issues also reinforce low expectations and negative stereotypes. Avoid it.

Now imagine I blogged 500 words over-praising you for getting out of bed this morning. How would that make you feel? Everyone faces challenges. But that doesn’t make us all heroic. Don’t get what I’m talking about? Take five minutes to watch Stella Young’s Ted Talk on disability language and ‘inspiration porn’.

3. Use the right words

Insulting words such as freak, cripple, retard and handicapped are totally unacceptable. I even hesitated to spell them out here – but let’s be clear what we are talking about so there are no excuses. So is writing that a person without disabilities is ‘normal’ or ‘healthy’ and so implying that the disabled person is not.

Other negative phrases sneak in by the back door. The disabled person helplessly ‘suffers from a disease’ rather than ‘has a condition’. They are ‘wheelchair bound’ rather than actively ‘using a wheelchair’. Think before you write.

Use language which focuses on abilities rather than disabilities, and accessibility rather than limitations. Write about accessible toilets, not handicapped ones.

Disagree with me? That's fine. The language of disability is a living thing, constantly changing and progressing. I’d love to hear your views.

As well as working as a professional copywriter, Wendy regularly writes about special educational needs and disabilities, special education and transition to adulthood, and parent carer participation.

Playing basketball