Communicating With and About People with Disabilities

Key points

  • Communicating appropriately and respectfully with and about people with disabilities supports disability inclusion.
  • People-first language promotes understanding, dignity, and respect and emphasizes the person instead of the disability.
  • Use these tips to communicate with and about people with disabilities.

Overview

More than 1 in 4 U.S. adults reports having some form of a disability.1 Disability is part of the human experience, but sometimes people use words or phrases that are insensitive and do not promote understanding, dignity, and respect for people with disabilities. Most often than not, this is not intentional but is disrespectful just the same.

People-first language

People-first language is used to communicate appropriately and respectfully with and about an individual with a disability. People-first language emphasizes the person first, not the disability. For example, when referring to a person with a disability, refer to the person first, by using phrases such as, "a person who ...", "a person with ...", or "a person who has ..."

Remember...‎

People-first language is the best place to start when talking to a person with a disability. If you are unsure, ask the person how he or she would like to be described. It is important to remember that preferences can vary.

These are some general tips you can follow:

Tips

Use

Do not use

Emphasize abilities, not limitations

  • Person who uses a wheelchair
  • Person who uses a device to speak
  • Confined or restricted to a wheelchair, wheelchair bound
  • Can’t talk, mute

Do not use language that suggests the lack of something

  • Person with a disability
  • Person of short stature
  • Person with cerebral palsy
  • Person with epilepsy or seizure disorder
  • Person with multiple sclerosis
  • Disabled, handicapped
  • Midget
  • Cerebral palsy victim
  • Epileptic
  • Afflicted by multiple sclerosis

Emphasize the need for accessibility, not the disability

  • Accessible parking or bathroom
  • Handicapped parking or bathroom

Do not use offensive language

  • Person with a physical disability
  • Person with an intellectual, cognitive, developmental disability
  • Person with an emotional or behavioral disability, a mental health impairment, or a psychiatric disability
  • Crippled, lame, deformed, invalid, spastic
  • Slow, simple, moronic, defective, afflicted, special person
  • Insane, crazy, psycho, maniac, nuts

Avoid language that implies negative stereotypes

  • Person without a disability
  • Normal person, healthy person

Do not portray people with disabilities as inspirational only because of their disability

  • Person who is successful, productive
  • Has overcome his/her disability, is courageous

Resources‎

For more resources on disability inclusion, visit Disability Inclusion.
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Content Source:
Disability and Health; National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Disability and Health Data System (DHDS) [Internet]. [updated 2024 July; cited 2024 July 15]. Available from: http://dhds.cdc.gov