Attitudinal Barriers

As members of the academic community, you are very much aware of the impact language has on the reader or listener. Therefore, it is very important to be aware of and apply the appropriate terminology when describing people with disabilities.

Defining a person by the disability, not the person’s humanness, leads us to isolate and segregate people with disabilities. It also hurts their pride and damages their confidence. Unfounded or inappropriate attitudes can be more disabling than any diagnosed disability.

Stereotyping prevails on campus, as it does in the larger society. In college, though, it not only perpetuates the prejudicial treatment encountered by people with disabilities elsewhere, but it may undermine scholastic performance or access to educational opportunities. Stereotyping also reinforces barriers that students with disabilities are trying to overcome at critical junctures in their lives.

Revising our perceptions and attitudes is the first step in accommodating students with disabilities. It is vital to remember that similarities among all students are much more significant than their differences: they are all, first and foremost, students.

The most important thing to remember is to put the person before the disability. This puts the emphasis on the person and not his or her particular functional limitation. If you must be succinct, give an accurate and positive portrayal of the person. Crippled, deformed, suffers from, victim of, the retarded, etc. are never acceptable terms.

Disability groups also strongly object to euphemisms to describe disabilities. Terms such as handicapable, mentally different, physically inconvenienced, and physically challenged are considered condescending. They reinforce the idea that disabilities cannot be dealt with up front.

 

Correct Terminology	Incorrect Terminology
Person who is deaf	The deaf person
People who are visually impaired	The blind person
Person with a disability	A disabled person
Had/has polio	Polio victim
A person who is nondisabled	Normal, able-bodied
Person who has a mental illness	A mentally ill person, crazy