Words to avoid when talking about disabled people

When talking about an individual, ask them “How do you refer to your disability or impairment?“.

When talking about a broad group use ‘disabled people’ or ‘people with disabilities’.

When identifying a disabled person

There is no right way for people to identify with their disability or impairment, however some terms are insensitive or offensive.

Dont say	Try instead	Why?
Able-bodied	Non-disabled	Implies disabled people are only limited by their bodies and not society
Aspergers	Autistic person	Aspergers has controversial roots and creates a hierarchy of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ autistic people.
Cripple / Crippled	Motor impaired person or more specific	It has become a slur
Differently-abled	Disabled person	It’s okay to say disabled
Midget	Dwarf, Little person, Person of short stature	It has become a slur
Retarded	Intellectually disabled person or person with a learning disability	It has become a slur
Spaz / Spastic	Person with cerebral palsy or more specific	It has become a slur
Special needs	Disabled person or more specific — Use ‘access needs’ when talking about reasonable adjustments	Disabled people’s needs are human needs not special needs
The disabled	Disabled people or people with disabilities	Makes disabled people feel like they’re outside a conversation about them
Wheelchair / Wheelchair bound	Wheelchair user	People are not wheelchairs, they use wheelchairs

Not all disabled people find these words offensive, it is okay to make mistakes, focus on speaking with more intention and improving over time.

Avoid words that reference disabled people when it is unrelated to your point.

Instead of saying	Try instead	Why?
Insane, Mad, Mental	Wild, Shocking, Intense	Mental illness is not a moral failing and you can be mentally ill and not a bad person
Stupid, Idiot, Dumb	Nonsense, Ignorant	Insults around intelligence are often used when we could argue against a specific point.
Lame	Boring, Sad	Avoid conflating motor impairments with something bad.
“I’m so OCD”	I’m fixated on [thing], I’m particular about [thing]	OCD is a serious mental health condition and should not be trivialised.

Some disabled people may use these words to describe themselves.

For example, ‘Crip’ is used amongst many disabled people, similar to how ‘queer’ has been reclaimed by the LGBT+ community.

If you are not from these communities then avoid them even if they’re used by the person themselves.