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 speech–reading, 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 affliction. |