An Inclusive Early Childhood
Development Program
People-First Language
Language shapes the way those around us speak and act toward one another and conveys the respect we have for others. The use of appropriate language about people with disabilities can be an important tool in building a community that accepts all people.
Appropriate language is both sensitive and accurate. VSA arts promotes the use of “people-first” language—language that puts the focus on the individual, rather than on a disability. “People-first” language helps us remember that people are unique individuals and that their abilities or disabilities are only part of who they are.
| Affirmative Phrase | Negative Phrase |
| Person with a disability | The disabled; handicapped; crippled; suffers from a disability |
| Person who is blind; Person with a visual impairment; Person who has low vision |
The blind |
| Person who is deaf; Person with a hearing impairment; Person who is hard of hearing |
The deaf; deaf and dumb; suffers a hearing loss |
| Person with mental illness Person with mental retardation; |
Crazy; psycho; lunatic Retarded; mentally defective |
| Person who uses a wheelchair |
Confined or restricted to a
wheelchair; wheelchair-bound
|
| Person with a physical disability; Person with a mobility impairment |
Cripple; lame; handicapped; deformed |
