Appropriate Language and Behaviour

Language reflects the social context in which it is developed and used. It reflects the values and attitudes of that context, and plays an important role in reinforcing values and attitudes that lead to discrimination and segregation of particular groups in society.

Language can, therefore, be used as a powerful tool to facilitate change and bring about new values, attitudes and social integration. However, there is a great deal of disagreement as to what should be considered offensive.

Views vary with geography and culture, over time, and among individuals. Some of the terms, such as "retard" and "lame," are deliberate insults; others, such as "wheelchair-bound," are inherently negative; still others, such as "Mongolism," are based on stereotypical ideas of certain groups of individuals with disabilities. Some people believe that terms should be avoided if they might offend people; others hold the listener responsible for misinterpreting terms used in a non-offensive context.

The Persons with Disabilities South Africa (DPSA), with the help of Patricia Digh of Real Work Group, developed comprehensive guidelines on disability terminology and definitions which have been compiled into a booklet entitled "A Pocket Guide On Disability Equity". You may also find similar guidelines from a multilingual, web-based, free-content encyclopaedia project known as the Wikipedia.

We list down some of the guidelines on appropriate language and behaviour to use when interacting with disabled students, as follows:

•      Although some persons with disabilities prefer the terms "physically challenged" or "differently abled", these should not generally be used, the most preferred are "disabled person" and "people with disabilities".

•      Avoid "suffers from," "afflicted with" or "victim of", all of which cast disabilities as a negative. "Suffers from" indicates ongoing pain and torment, which is no more the case for mostpersons with disabilities as it is for most people without disabilities. "Afflicted with" denotes a disease, which most disabilities are not. "Victim of" implies that a crime is being committed on the person who has a disability.

•      Do not use "wheelchair-bound" or "confined to a wheelchair". People see their wheelchairs as a convenient mode of transportation, not prisons, and the "bound/confined" phrase belies the fact that many people with motor disabilities engage in activities without their wheelchairs, including driving and sleeping. The proper phrase is "uses a wheelchair".

•      Use "disability" not "handicap." The word "handicap" derives from the phrase "cap in hand", referring to a beggar, and is despised by mostpersons with disabilities. Other terms to avoid are "physically/mentally challenged" (who isn't?) "cripple" or "crippled."

•      Use "able-bodied" or "people without disabilities." The terms "normal" and "whole" are inappropriate and inaccurate.

•      Avoid "deformed," "deformity" and "birth defect". A person may be "born without arms" or "has a congenital disability," but is probably not defective.

•      Use "person with epilepsy" or "child with a seizure disorder". Avoid "epileptic", either as noun or adjective.