How to Talk About Disability
The words the media use to describe disability have the power to either empower or stigmatize members of the community. Many online guides for disability terminology now exist (see below). They can help media creators avoid outdated, inaccurate, and problematic terms.
First off, use the word “disabled” – it is the preferred terminology in the English-speaking world. And always ask disabled colleagues, sources, artists, and others the words they prefer.
Specific disability communities have their own preferences. For example, the “big D” Deaf community in the U.S. prefers Deaf to be capitalized to signify they are a culture that shares the language of American Sign Language. People with dwarfism would like the “M” word to be abolished, because as Little People of America says, it is “considered a derogatory slur.” Similarly, people with intellectual disabilities would like to see the “R” word go away – hence the 2026 “Just EVOLVE” campaign.
Finally, people-first language, with phrases such as “people with disabilities” or “a woman with cerebral palsy,” has become the preferred terminology in the past few decades. Identity-first language also fits with the Social Model of Disability, which advocates for removing societal barriers that disable the access to society.
Online guides about language and disability terminology from around the world:
From Africa
From Australia
- Australian Federation of Disability Organisations, “Language Guide”
- Australian Government Style Manual, “Disability and neurodiversity”
- People with Disability Australia, “Language Guide” (2021)
From New Zealand
From the UK
- Disability Wales, “Inclusive Language and Imagery”
- Government of the United Kingdom, “Inclusive language”
From the USA
- Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Lydia Brown, “Identity-First Language”
- Haben Girma, “A Brief Disability Accessibility Guide” (2016)
- National ADA Network, “Guidelines for Writing about People with Disabilities" (2018)
- National Down Syndrome Society, “NDSS Preferred Language Guide”
- National Association of the Deaf, “Guidelines for Media Portrayal of the Deaf Community”
- Society of Professional Journalists, “Writing about people with disabilities” (2023)
- Special Olympics, “Inclusive Language for Talking About People with Intellectual Disabilities”
- Syracuse University Disability Cultural Center, “Language Guide”
- University of Kansas Research and Training Center on Independent Living, “Guidelines: How to Write about People with Disabilities”
- Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, “Disability Language Style Guide” (2021)
For additional reading: GADIM and Shutterstock’s “Authentic portrayals of people with disabilities”