Language dos and don'ts
Inclusive language should promote awareness of the capabilities and contributions of persons with disabilities. It should foster respect for their rights and dignity as well as combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices relating to persons with disabilities.
The following section gives examples of inclusive language options as alternatives for frequently used inappropriate, insensitive terms. However, keep in mind that language is constantly changing and evolving. Terms that are acceptable today may be inappropriate tomorrow. It is therefore important to regularly look for updates and follow discussions around language in society. An important factor in considering what language to use is to find out what the local Organisation of Persons with Disabilities (OPD) advises.
While there is a difference between disability and impairment, the terms are often used interchangeably. You shouldn't worry too much about whether to choose one or the other term. If you want to dive in deeper to understand the difference, check out the section on ‘Why participation is important’.
Persons with disabilities or disabled persons?
In CBM, we generally use and promote the use of 'persons with disabilities'. This approach is known as person-first language and is based on the importance to affirm and define the person first, before the impairment or disability. This is also the preference in many low- and middle-income countries and the language used by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). By putting the person first in our language, we express that we don’t determine the person only by the disability. And this is also the reason why we cannot use abbreviations (e.g. PwD) like for an object.
However, in the UK, the preferred term is disabled people. The term persons with disabilities is thought to mix impairment with disability. People do not have disabilities, but rather impairments that become disabling, due to society not being comprehensively accessible and inclusive. Therefore ‘disabled people’ is felt to be a more factual and strong political statement of the reality of discrimination and exclusion.
Ultimately a good indicator when choosing language is to decide if you would like the term used to describe yourself, your friends or family members. It quickly becomes apparent which words and images demonstrate respect and dignity in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and which do not.
Use |
Don’t use |
Person with an impairment, person with disabilities |
The disabled, handicapped (person), PWD, persons with special needs/abilities, differently abled |
Person without disabilities |
Normal person |
Person with disabilities, person living with a disability, person having acquired a disability |
Person suffering from an impairment/disability |
Fight against preventable diseases[1] |
Fight against/ eradicate disability |
Person with psycho-social disabilities |
Person of unsound mind, person with a psychiatric impairment, lunatic, crazy person, person suffering from mental infirmity/derangement, mental, mad, schitzo |
Person with intellectual disabilities |
Mental handicap, mentally retarded, retarded, feeble-minded, not intelligent. |
Person with a physical disability, person who had polio, person with cerebral palsy, person who was amputated |
Invalid, crippled, handicapped, lame |
Person with a hearing impairment, person who is deaf, person who is hard of hearing, person who is deaf-blind |
(Deaf and) dumb person, deaf-mute person, person suffering from hearing loss |
Person with a visual impairment, person who is blind, person with low vision |
Visually impaired, visionless, the blind |
Person of short stature, little people, person with Dwarfism |
Dwarf, midget, lilliputian |
Person with Down Syndrome |
Mongoloid |
Person with a congenital impairment, person born with an impairment |
Birth defect |
Person who uses a wheelchair, wheel-chair user |
Person who is wheelchair- bound |
Person using synthetic speech or Sign Language, person with a speech impairment |
Mute, dumb |
Autistic, person with epilepsy, person with haemophilia, person affected by Leprosy |
Epileptic, haemophiliac, leper |
(Wheelchair-) accessible toilet, accessible parking, parking for persons with disabilities |
Disabled toilet, handicapped parking |
Underrepresented groups, groups of persons who often experience discrimination, marginalised groups, persons living in situations of vulnerability, persons who are disproportionately impacted or affected |
The vulnerable, vulnerable groups (though this term is often used by the UN) |
Persons living in (situations of) poverty |
The poor, poor person(s) |
Low-income countries |
Developing countries, Third World countries, underdeveloped countries |
Going on a project visit, working in the project at the local level |
Going to the field, at field level |
Rights-holder |
Beneficiary |
[1] Each one of us must be very careful to use this kind of terminology. While it works fine in some cases, e.g. fighting eye diseases to eliminate preventable blindness, in other cases it suggests the total opposite. Fighting against the causes of Down Syndrome or Autism is not in line with the idea of disability as a part of human variation.
