Understanding Disability-Inclusive Language
One thing people fear is saying the wrong thing. Language has meaning, and it evolves as we evolve. Things that we may have said without thinking about it ten years ago are sometimes no longer embraced by the community.
Emily Ladau in her book Demystifying Disability, does a great job at breaking down language that is appropriate and why some language has changed. I highly recommend buying this book. It is a quick read, and will get you feeling confident on how to approach conversations.
In her book, she shares a chart on “What to Say” - I’ve added some highlights here, but the other important part is that some people may choose to refer to themselves in their own terms. Just ask! For example, some people with disabilities prefer person first vocabulary, such as “person with a disability,” versus others who prefer “disabled person” or “autistic person.” If you are not sure, just ask.
Say This
Disability/Disabled
Person with a disability/disabled person
Not This
Differently abled (unless preferred)
Handi-capable
Handicap/handicapped
Special needs (unless preferred)
Has a disability
Is disabled
Person who is able to
Person who is unable to
Neurodivergent
Person with Autism/Autistic person
Person with a cognitive disability/cognitively disabled person
Person with an intellectual disability/intellectually disabled person
Person with a learning disability/learning disabled person
Able-bodied (if not physically disabled)
Does not have a disability
Neurotypical (If not neurodivergent)
Non Disabled
Afflicted by
Suffers from
Victim of
High functioning
Low Functioning
Mentally challenged
Mentally handicapped
Mentally retarded
Slow
Special Edke value, length of service, and why it’s unique.
Normal
Regular
Person who uses a wheelchair
Wheelchair user
Person who uses a wheelchair
Wheelchair user
Little person
Person of short stature
Person with dwarfism/dwarf
Midget
Person with a mental health disability
Person with mental illness/mentally ill person
Person with a psychiatric disability/psychiatrically disabled persons
Cray
Disturbed
Insane
Lunatic
Mad
Psychotic
Person with a physical disability/Physically disabled person
Cripple
Gimp
Invalid
Spaz
Accessible parking/restroom
Disabled restroom
Handicapped parking
Source: Ladau, E. (2021). Demystifying disability: What to know, what to say, and how to be an ally. Ten Speed Press.
Some of these terms you may hear the disabled person say about themselves, such as when the word “crip” was used in the Netflix documentary Crip Camp. A person with the disability can choose to reclaim that word for themselves, but that does not mean you get to use it unless they give you permission to use it about them.
In writing or speaking, if you are not talking about one disabled individual I tend to use both disabled person and person with a disability in order to acknowledge both identities. If you are speaking about someone in particular it is best to ask how they would like to be identified. There are many different identity choices in the community such as people who refer to themselves as capital “D” deaf– meaning culturally Deaf, versus lower-case “d” deaf– generally meaning that you live most of your life within the hearing community.