Disability and Language
As greater numbers of individuals with disabilities take advantage of the opportunities open to them in higher education, it becomes increasingly important that colleges and universities promote an environment that is positive for persons with disabilities. One of the strongest and easiest ways is appropriate language usage.
The generally recommended manner of addressing individuals with disabilities is known as “person first” language. This means that the person is emphasized first, and the disability second. However, there is a growing consensus in the disability community pushing for “identity first” language. This would look like, “disabled person,” “autistic child,” or “Deaf friend” in practice and reflects the understanding that a disability or adjacent identity cannot be separated from the identity of the person.
The Association on Higher Education and Disability made a statement on language in 2020, stating that they are, “adopting identity-first language across all communication, information and materials … [because] it is one way to model new thinking on disability that we see reflected in disability studies and in the disability rights community.”
Since there are many people with disabilities with varying views on how to be addressed, we have created a listed of acceptable vs. unacceptable terms below. A more comprehensive bias-conscious language guide is forthcoming and will include more examples and detailed explanations. The APA Style Guide also offers a fairly extensive overview of bias-conscious language regarding disability for those wanting to learn more.
| Past Term | Current Term |
|---|---|
| Handicap/Handicapped, crippled | Disability/Disabled, person with a disability |
| Differently abled, handicapable | Disabled, person with a disability |
| Special needs | Disability/functional needs, disabled, person with a disability |
| Handicapped stall/parking spot | Accessible stall/parking spot |
| Wheelchair-bound/confined to a wheelchair | Wheelchair user |
| Mentally challenged/”slow” | Cognitively/intellectually disabled, person with a cognitive/intellectual disability |
| “Suffers from”/”victim of”/”stricken with” | “has” |
| Dwarf, midget | Little person, person of short stature |
| Brain damaged | Person with a brain injury, person with a traumatic brain injury, disabled |
| Shrink | Mental health professional (use appropriate title when possible, e.g., counselor, therapist, social worker) |
| Retard, retarded; stupid; feeble, feeble-minded | Intellectually disabled (if referring to a person); lacks merit, ridiculous, unfounded |
| Schizo, mad, crazy, insane, psycho, disturbed, bipolar (as an adjective), OCD (as an adjective) | Someone who has a mental illness/mental illness disability or name the illness/disability, neurodivergent (if referring to a person); wild, ridiculous, ludicrous, out of line, inappropriate, harmful, inexplicable, bewildering |
| Spaz, spastic | Someone with [name of disability] (if referring to a person); unreliable, goofy, unfocused, flamboyant |