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Finding the right words

The language we use about disability is an important way of influencing our own and society’s attitudes. The list below is intended to help you and it reflects the views of disabled people themselves and in particular young wheelchair users.

As you will see, the words on the left are passive, “victim” words (handicapped, for example, has its roots in the idea of asking for charity, “cap in hand”), whereas the word on the right respect disabled people as active individuals with control over their own lives.



 Avoid using

 Use Instead

General

Handicapped person/ child

Disabled person/ child

The disabled

Disabled people/ children

Afflicted by, suffers from, a victim of, has a disease

Has the condition, has an impairment, has Cerebral Palsy/Spina Bifida

Cripple, invalid, sufferer

Disabled person/ child

Confined to a wheelchair, wheelchair bound

A wheelchair-user

Spastic

Has Cerebral Palsy

Special needs

Specific needs

Integration, integrate

Inclusion, include i.e. inclusion in mainstream school

Disabled toilets

Accessible toilets

 Whizz-Kidz specific

Whizz-kids, WhizzKidz, Whiz-Kidz

Whizz-Kidz

Children with disabilities

Disabled children

Mobility aid/ s

Customised wheelchairs and tricycles or mobility equipment

Chair

Wheelchair

Electric wheelchair

Powered wheelchair

Whizz-Kidz terminology

Correct spellings for the following (please note capitals, hyphens etc.):

Whizz-Kidz, ‘whizz kids’ (beneficiaries of Whizz-Kidz)


Disabled children or children with disabilities?

“Disabled children” (or people) is preferred because it acknowledges that the biggest difficulty for disabled people lies in society’s attitudes i.e. that it is society that is disabling the person or child, whereas “children with disabilities” can be seen to place the problem solely with the individual.


Specific Needs or Special Needs

We all have the same needs – to eat, to drink etc. Disabled people are disadvantaged if their needs are not met, the same as you would be. There is nothing ‘special’ about needing Braille, or needing to use a wheelchair to get around. “Special needs” is still widely used and considered acceptable. However, an alternative is “specific needs” (or more formally “access requirements”).

I would like to make a regular donation!

£

preferably starting on:

Please specify a date at least one month from now

It is important having an ambassador network because it helps raise the profile of Whizz-Kidz so children can get their wheelchairs quicker

Anon