Glossary of Acceptable Terms
| Acceptable Terms | Unacceptable Terms | |
| Person with a disability. | Cripple, cripples - the image conveyed is of a twisted, deformed, useless body. | |
| Disability, a general term used for functional limitation that interferes with a person's ability, for example, to walk, hear or lift. It may refer to a physical, mental or sensory condition. | Handicap, handicapped person or handicapped. | |
| People with cerebral palsy, people with spinal cord injuries. | Cerebral palsied, spinal cord injured, etc. Never identify people solely by their disability. | |
| Person who had a spinal cord injury, polio, a stroke, etc. or a person who has multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, arthritis, etc. | Victim. People with disabilities do not like to be perceived as victims for the rest of their lives, long after any victimization has occurred. | |
| Has a disability, has a condition of (spina bifida, etc.), or born without legs, etc. | Defective, defect, deformed, vegetable. These words are offensive, dehumanizing, degrading and stigmatizing. | |
|
Deafness/hearing impairment. Deafness refers to a person who has a total loss of hearing. Hearing impairment refers to a person who has a partial loss of hearing within a range from slight to severe.
Hard of hearing describes a hearing-impaired person who communicates through speaking and spear-heading, and who usually has listening and hearing abilities adequate for ordinary telephone communication. Many hard of hearing individuals use a hearing aid. |
Deaf and Dumb is as bad as it sounds. The inability to hear or speak does not indicate intelligence. | |
| Person who has a mental or developmental disability. | Retarded, moron, imbecile, idiot. These are offensive to people who bear the label. | |
| Use a wheelchair or crutches; a wheelchair user; walks with crutches. | Confined/restricted to a wheelchair; wheelchair bound. Most people who use a wheelchair or mobility devices do not regard them as confining. They are viewed as liberating; a means of getting around. | |
| Able-bodied; able to walk, see, hear, etc.; people who are not disabled. | Healthy, when used to contrast with "disabled." Healthy implies that the person with a disability is unhealthy. Many people with disabilities have excellent health. | |
| People who do not have a disability. | Normal. When used as the opposite of disabled, this implies that the person is abnormal. No one wants to be labeled as abnormal. | |
| A person who has (name of disability.) Example: A person who has multiple sclerosis. |
Afflicted with, suffers from. Most people with disabilities do not regard themselves as afflicted or suffering continually.
Afflicted: a disability is not an afflicted, although an affliction may have caused the disability. |
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