Examples of Preferred Terms regarding People with Disabilities
| Acceptable - Neutral* | Unacceptable - Offensive |
|---|---|
|
He had polio She has multiple sclerosis |
He was afflicted with, stricken with, suffers from, victim of polio, multiple sclerosis, etc. |
| He has arthritis | He is arthritic |
| She has cerebral palsy | She is cerebral palsied, spastic |
|
A person who has had a disability since birth A congenital disability |
Birth defect |
|
A person who uses a wheelchair A wheelchair user |
Confined to a wheelchair / wheelchair bound |
| She has a disability | She is crippled |
|
A person who has a speech disability A person who is hard of hearing A person who is deaf |
Dumb, deaf mute, dummy (implies an intellectual disability occurs with a hearing loss or a speech disability) |
| A person who has a spinal curvature | A hunchback or a humpback |
|
He has a mental illness He has an emotional disability He has a psychiatric disability |
He is chronically mentally ill, a nut, crazy, idiot, imbecile, moron |
| People of short stature | Midgets, dwarfs |
| A person who has a speech disability | Mute |
| A person without a disability as compared to a person with a disability | Normal person, whole person, healthy person, able-bodied person as compared to a disabled person |
| She lives with a disability | Overcame her disability |
| A person who has a developmental disability or intellectual disability | Retard, retardate, mentally retarded, feebleminded, idiot |
| Use only when a person is actually ill | Sick |
| Use only when a person is actively being seen or treated by a health care provider | Stroke patient, multiple sclerosis patient |
| Seizure | Fit |
| Older people with disabilities | Frail |
* Always subject to change and continuing debate
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