Words have POWER of their OWN

They can Encourage and Empower or

Discourage and Dishearten.

The Language we use to describe someone usually creates an attitude and is also a reflection of how people in society see each other.

Language of Disability

There are certain words and phrases, which when used in regards to disability, may lead to a negative attitude.

Certain terms are preferable to others. In this presentation we have tried to provide some examples of the preferred terminology and the reasoning behind them.

Use People First Language

• People First Language describes a person according to WHAT A PERSON HAS and NOT according to what a person IS.

It puts the PERSON before the disability.

Some ExamplesUSE THIS INSTEAD OF THIS People with Disabilities, disabled persons or people

The disabled, the handicapped, Invalid

The person has, person with, person who experienced (name of the disability)

Person is afflicted with, suffers from, is a victim of

Person who has cerebral palsy, has spastic muscles

Is Cerebral palsied, is a spastic person

Person without speech, nonverbal

Mute, dumb

Person who is deaf, person who has a hearing disability

Deaf and dumb, deaf mute, deaf person

Some More Examples of People First Language

USE THIS INSTEAD OF THIS

Uses a wheelchair Is confined to a wheelchair, is wheelchair bound

Person with intellectual impairment , person with a learning disability

Retarded, mentally retarded, mongoloid

Non-disabled Normal, healthy or able-bodied

Has a physical disability Is crippled

Person with visual impairment, person who is blind

The blind

When using the term “Normal”

When referring to what is normal, or inferring what is abnormal, be careful to indicate you are talking or writing about development and not a person or a program.

Some ways to use the term NORMAL

USE THIS INSTEAD OF THIS

Normal development, normally developing

Normal Child

Child without Disability Normal Child

Mainstream Classroom Normal Classroom

Do Remember

Disability is not a disease and is not necessarily tragic. Persons with Disabilities can and do live regular, fulfilling lives. Let us tell you about a few.

Sunil and Shweta Sahasrabudhe are proud deaf

adults and sign language users.

Sneha Sarkar, who is profoundly deaf, is currently

studying at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Surja Shekhar, who has an intellectual disability is a professional dancer.

Sachin, Bhagyashree and Lata, who are all blind, are professional massage therapists.

Jeeja Ghosh, who has Cerebral Palsy, works for the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy, Kolkata, is an advocate for the Rights

of Persons with Disabilities and is married.

So please remember that

Disability is simply a condition and the lives of persons with disabilities are not necessarily boring and uneventful. Disabled persons are more like us than different.

• SPECIAL is a commonly used term in relation to disability. For example: Special education, Special needs, Special buses, etc.

• But do know, that “special” is not always a compliment.

• Being seen as Special may seem nice if you are a top celebrity or national champion. However, being singled out “specially” as being NOT NORMAL may only add to the wounds PWDs already feel.

A bit about the term “Differently Abled”

• No two persons have the exact same abilities. Based on this fact, we can safely assume that WE ARE ALL DIFFERENTLY ABLED.

• However, using the term differently abled as against disabled implies a certain exclusion of Persons with Disabilities which is best to avoid.

Den, Divya and Navin all have a disability, are

wheelchair users and are

differently abled.

Den is a Radio Jockey

Navin is an ex army officer who

is now into adventure sports.

Divya is an actor and writer.

Also, Avoid labeling PWDs as “Handicapped”

• The words disability and handicap are not interchangeable. A disability is a condition caused by an accident, trauma, genetics or disease which may limit a person’s mobility, hearing, vision, speech or mental function.

• A handicap on the other hand is a physical or attitudinal constraint that is IMPOSED upon a person, regardless of whether that person has a disability.

Some Constraints society imposes on PWDs

Do not allow your thoughts, words and actions to be a barrier to Disability Equality

A Trinayani Presentation

www.trinayani.org