This web site is currently being upgraded for an improved user experience. Several web pages will continue to retain the former user interface during this transition period.

People First Language

Printer Friendly View

PEOPLE FIRST LANGUAGE The words we use in everyday conversation – on-the-job, at home, with our friends – are powerful. The way we refer to other people can either show respect or be a "put down." This is especially true when it comes to the words we use when talking with or about people with disabilities. People with disabilities are "people first." They are more like other people without disabilities than they are different. Because, like other people, people with disabilities are individuals, it’s also accurate to "group" all people with a particular disability. One way to help avoid this is through "people first" language. This is language that puts the person first rather than the disability. For example, "person with mental retardation" rather than "mentally retarded person." Usually it’s not necessary to draw attention to a disabling condition somebody may have, but there are times when we may need to refer to a person and his or her disability. Over the years, various terms have been used to describe people with disabilities in the same way that changes have occurred in the words we use to refer to people of various ethnic or racial groups. The following is a partial list of terms that will help you express respect in referring to people with disabilities. An easy way to remember is – keep your language "people first." DO SAY DON’T SAY A person with a disability The disabled, the handicapped, abnormal,defective. cripple A person who is non-disabled Able-bodied, normal, health, whole A person who has…or a person with…mental retardation The mentally retarded, slow, retard,simple, moron Down syndrome Mongoloid Mental illness The mentally ill, insane, crazy, wacko, psycho, lunatic, maniac, mental patient Epilepsy or a seizure disorder An epileptic A mobility impairment The physically disabled A physical disability Crippled, deformed, misshapen, withered, gimp A hearing impairment or a hearing and speech impairment Dumb, mute A visual impairment (not all people with visual impairments are totally blind) Sightless, blind Cerebral palsy Spastic A learning disability Slow, stupid, retarded Paraplegia or a spinal cord injury Paraplegic Quadriplegia or a spinal cord injury Paraplegic A person who uses a wheelchair, wheelchair-user Confined to a wheelchair, wheelchair-bound A person with…(name of the type of disabilitythe person has) Victim of, suffering from, afflicted with… Seizure Fit Person of short stature Dwarf, midget Note: The term "handicap" is not the same as "disability." Handicap is a condition or barrier imposed by society, the environment or one’s own self. Handicap can be used when describing a situation, as in "The stairs are a handicap for her," but the term should not be used to describe a person with a disability.   (footnote excerpted from Guidelines for Reporting and Writing about People with Disabilities, Third Edition, 1990, The Research & Training Center on Independent Living) Back