The words that we use affect us as well as those around us. We need to learn to

2. Words have POWER of their OWN
They can Encourage and Empower
or
Discourage and Dishearten.
The Language we use to describe someone
usually creates an attitude and is also a
reflection of how people in society see each
other.

3. Language of Disability
There are certain words and phrases, which
when used in regards to disability, may lead
to a negative attitude.
Certain terms are preferable to others.
In this presentation we have tried to provide
some examples of the preferred terminology
and the reasoning behind them.

4. Use People First Language
• People First Language describes a
person according to WHAT A PERSON
HAS and NOT according to what a
person IS.
It puts the PERSON before the disability.

5. Some Examples
USE THIS INSTEAD OF THIS
People with Disabilities,
disabled persons or people
The disabled, the
handicapped, Invalid
The person has, person with,
person who experienced
(name of the disability)
Person is afflicted with, suffers
from, is a victim of
Person who has cerebral palsy,
has spastic muscles
Is Cerebral palsied, is a spastic
person
Person without speech,
nonverbal
Mute, dumb
Person who is deaf, person
who has a hearing disability
Deaf and dumb, deaf mute,
deaf person

6. Some More Examples of People First Language
USE THIS INSTEAD OF THIS
Uses a wheelchair Is confined to a wheelchair, is
wheelchair bound
Person with intellectual
impairment , person with a
learning disability
Retarded, mentally retarded,
mongoloid
Non-disabled Normal, healthy or able-bodied
Has a physical disability Is crippled
Person with visual impairment,
person who is blind
The blind

7. When using the term “Normal”
When referring to what is normal, or
inferring what is abnormal, be careful to
indicate you are talking or writing about
development and not a person or a
program.

8. Some ways to use the term
NORMAL
USE THIS INSTEAD OF THIS
Normal development, normally
developing
Normal Child
Child without Disability Normal Child
Mainstream Classroom Normal Classroom

9. Do Remember
Disability is not a disease and is
not necessarily tragic. Persons
with Disabilities can and do live
regular, fulfilling lives. Let us tell
you about a few.

10. Sunil and Shweta
Sahasrabudhe are proud deaf
adults and sign language users.
Sneha Sarkar, who is
profoundly deaf, is currently
studying at the Tata Institute of
Social Sciences, Mumbai.

11. Surja Shekhar, who has an intellectual disability is a professional
dancer.

12. Sachin, Bhagyashree and Lata, who are all blind, are professional
massage therapists.

13. Jeeja Ghosh, who has Cerebral Palsy, works for the Indian
Institute of Cerebral Palsy, Kolkata, is an advocate for the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities and is married.

14. So please remember that
Disability is simply a condition
and the lives of persons with
disabilities are not necessarily
boring and uneventful. Disabled
persons are more like us than
different.

15. • SPECIAL is a commonly used term in relation to
disability. For example: Special education,
Special needs, Special buses, etc.
• But do know, that “special” is not
always a compliment.
• Being seen as Special may seem nice if you are a
top celebrity or national champion. However,
being singled out “specially” as being NOT
NORMAL may only add to the wounds PWDs
already feel.

16. A bit about the term
“Differently Abled”
• No two persons have the exact same
abilities. Based on this fact, we can safely
assume that WE ARE ALL DIFFERENTLY
ABLED.
• However, using the term differently abled as
against disabled implies a certain exclusion of
Persons with Disabilities which is best to
avoid.

17. Den, Divya and
Navin all have a
disability, are
wheelchair users
and are
differently abled.
Den is a Radio
Jockey
Navin is an ex
army officer who
is now into
adventure sports.
Divya is an actor
and writer.

18. Also, Avoid labeling PWDs as
“Handicapped”
• The words disability and handicap are not
interchangeable. A disability is a condition
caused by an accident, trauma, genetics or
disease which may limit a person’s mobility,
hearing, vision, speech or mental function.
• A handicap on the other hand is a physical or
attitudinal constraint that is IMPOSED upon a
person, regardless of whether that person has a
disability.

19. Some Constraints society imposes on
PWDs