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				Resources This page has information on: Other Resource Listings Washington State Resources Information on How to Register to Vote Guidelines for Writing About People with Disabilities Other Resource Listings National Resources Special Education Resources Other States' Developmental Disabilities Council Web Sites Washington State Resources Arc of Washington Aging and Disability Services Administration Agency Council on Coordinated Transportation The Arc of Washington/DD Endowment Trust (Life Opportunity Trust) Child Abuse/Neglect Reporting Children's Services Division of Child Support Division of Developmental Disabilities Health and Recovery Services Administration Informing Families,Building Trust Parent to Parent Sound Transit - Find A Ride State of Washington Web Site Washington State Child Care Resource & Referral Register to Vote You can do your part to support freedom and democracy by registering and voting. The power of the vote is one of the cornerstones of democracy. It's easy to do and it really does make a difference. To register to vote, you must be: A citizen of the United States A legal resident of Washington state At least 18 years old by election day A voting registration form and instruction s are available at the Washington Secretary of State's website. Guidelines for Writing About People with Disabilities Portrayal Issues Appropriate terminology AIDS Blind Cleft lip Congenital disability Deaf Developmental disability Disability Disfigurement Down syndrome Handicap Head injury Learning disability Mental disability Mental illness Mental Retardation Non-disabled Seizure Small/short stature Spastic Special Speech disorder Spinal cord injury Stroke Portrayal Issues Please consider the following when writing about people with disabilities: Do not focus on a disability unless it is crucial to a story. Avoid tear-jerking human interest stories about incurable diseases, congenital impairments, or severe injury. Focus instead on issues that affect the quality of life for those same individuals, such as accessible transportation, housing, affordable health care, employment opportunities, and discrimination. Do not portray successful people with disabilities as superhuman. Even though the public may admire super achievers, portraying people with disabilities as superstars raises false expectations that all people with disabilities should achieve at this level. Do not sensationalize a disability by saying afflicted with, crippled with, suffers from, victim of, and so on. Instead, say person who has multiple sclerosis or man who had polio. Do not use generic labels for disability groups, such as "the retarded," "the deaf." Emphasize people not labels. Say people with mental retardation or people who are deaf Put people first, not their disability. Say woman with arthritis, children who are deaf people with disabilities. This puts the focus on the individual, not the particular functional limitation. Because of editorial pressures to be succinct, we know it is not always possible to put people first. If the portrayal is positive and accurate, consider the following variations: disabled citizens, non-disabled people, wheelchair-user, deaf girl, paralyzed child, and so on. Crippled, deformed, suffers from, victim of, the retarded, infirm, etc. are never acceptable under any circumstances. Emphasize abilities not limitations. For example: uses a wheelchair,braces, walks with crutches, rather than confined to a wheelchair, wheelchair-bound, or is crippled. Similarly, do not use emotional descriptors such as unfortunate, pitiful, and so forth. Disability groups also strongly object to using euphemisms to describe disabilities. Some blind advocates dislike partially sighted, because it implies avoiding acceptance of blindness. Terms such as handicapable, mentally different, physically inconvenienced, and physically challenged are considered condescending. They reinforce the idea that disabilities cannot be dealt with upfront. Do not imply disease when discussing disabilities that result from a prior disease episode. People who had polio and experience after effects years later have a postpolio disability. They are not currently experiencing the disease. Do not imply disease with people whose disability has resulted from anatomical or physiological damage (e.g., person with spina bifida or cerebral palsy). Reference to disease associated with a disability is acceptable only with chronic diseases, such as arthritis, Parkinson's disease, or multiple sclerosis. People with disabilities should never be referred to as patients or cases unless their relationship with their doctor is under discussion. Show people with disabilities as active participants of society. Portraying persons with disabilities interacting with nondisabled people in social and work environments helps break down barriers and open lines of communications. Return to the Guidelines top Appropriate terminology Listed below are preferred words that reflect a positive attitude in portraying disabilities. Return to the Guidelines top AIDS Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is an infectious disease resulting in the loss of the body's immune system to ward off infections. The disease is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A positive test for HIV can occur without symptoms of illnesses which usually develop up to 10 years later, including tuberculosis, recurring pneumonia, cancer, recurrent vaginal yeast infection, intestinal ailments, chronic weakness and fever, and profound weight loss. Preferred: people with AIDS or living with AIDS. Return to the Guidelines top Blind Describes a condition in which a person has loss of vision for ordinary life purposes. Visually impaired is the generic term preferred by some individuals to refer to all degrees of vision loss. Use boy who is blind, girl who is visually impaired, or man who has low vision. Return to the Guidelines top Cleft lip Describes a specific congenital disability involving lip and gum. The term hare lip is anatomically incorrect and stigmatizing. Use person who has a cleft lip or has a cleft palate. Return to the top Congenital disability Describes a disability that has existed since birth but is not necessarily hereditary. The term birth defect is inappropriate. Return to the top Deaf Deafness refers to a profound degree of hearing loss that prevents understanding speech through the ear. Hearing impaired or people with hearing loss are the generic terms preferred by some individuals to indicate any degree of hearing loss-from mild to profound. It includes both hard of hearing and deaf. Others prefer deaf or hard of hearing. Hard of hearing refers to a mild or severe hearing loss that may or may not be corrected with amplification. Use woman who is deaf, boy who is hard of hearing, or people who are hearing- impaired. Return to the Guidelines top Developmental disability Any mental and/or physical disability starting before age 22 and continuing indefinitely. It limits one or more major life activities such as self-care, language, learning, mobility, self-direction, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency. Term includes individuals with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy (and other seizure disorders), sensory impairments, congenital disabilities, traumatic accidents, or conditions caused by disease (polio, muscular dystrophy, etc.). May be the result of multiple disabilities. Return to the Guidelines top Disability General term used for a functional limitation that interferes with a person's ability, for example, to walk, lift, hear, or learn. It may refer to a physical, sensory, or mental condition. Use as a descriptive noun or adjective, such as persons -who are mentally and physically disabled or man with a disability. Impairment refers to loss or abnormality of an organ or body mechanism, which may result in disability. Return to the Guidelines top Disfigurement Refers to physical changes caused by bums, trauma, disease or congenital problems. Return to the Guidelines top Down syndrome Describes a chromosome disorder which usually causes a delay in physical, intellectual, and language development. Usually results in mental retardation. Mongol or mongoloid are unacceptable. Return to the Guidelines top Handicap Not a synonym for disability. Describes a condition or barrier imposed by society, the environment, or by one's own self. Handicap can be used when citing laws and situations but should not be used to describe a disability. Say the stairs are a handicapfor her. (Note: Accessible parking is preferred to "handicapped parking.") Return to the Guidelines top Head injury Describes a condition where there is temporary or long-term interruption in brain functioning. Use persons with head injury, people who have sustained brain damage, woman who has traumatic brain injury, or boy with an acquired head injury. Return to the Guidelines top Learning disability Describes a permanent condition that affects the way individuals with average or above-average intelligence take in, retain, and express information. Some groups prefer specific learning disability, because it emphasizes that only certain learning processes are affected. Do not say slow learner, retarded, etc. Use has a learning disability. Return to the Guidelines top Mental disability The Federal Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) lists four categories under mental disability: psychiatric disability, retardation, learning disability, and (physical) head trauma. Use these four terms for specific instances; otherwise, mental disability or cognitive impairment is acceptable. Return to the Guidelines top Mental illness Words such as crazy, maniac, lunatic, demented, and psycho are offensive and should never be applied to people with mental health problems. Psychotic, schizophrenic, neurotic, and other specific terms should be used only in proper context and should be checked carefully for medical and legal accuracy. Acceptable terms are people with emotional disorders, psychiatric illness, or psychiatric disabilities. Return to the Guidelines top Mental Retardation Generally considered a form of developmental disability. Mental retardation consists of significantly below average intellectual functioning with deficits in adaptive behavior seen during the developmental period before age 18. Preferred: people with mental retardation. Return to the Guidelines top Non-disabled Appropriate term for people without disabilities. Normal, able-bodied, healthy, or whole are inappropriate. Return to the Guidelines top Seizure Describes an involuntary muscular contraction, a brief impairment or loss of consciousness, etc. resulting from a neurological condition such as epilepsy or from an acquired brain injury. Rather than epileptic, say girl with epilepsy or boy with a seizure disorder. The term convulsion should be used only for seizures involving contraction of the entire body. Return to the Guidelines top Small/short stature Do not refer to people under 4'10" as dwarfs or midgets. Use person of small (or short) stature. Dwarfism is an accepted -medical term, but it should not be used as general terminology. Some groups prefer "little people." However, to some, that implies a less than full, adult status in society. Return to the Guidelines top Spastic Describes a muscle with sudden abnormal and involuntary spasms. Not appropriate for describing someone with cerebral palsy. Muscles are spastic, not people. Return to the Guidelines top Special Describes that which is different or uncommon about any person. Do not use to describe persons with disabilities (except when citing laws or regulations). Return to the Guidelines top Speech disorder A condition in which a person has limited or difficult speech patterns. Use child who has a speech disorder. For a person with no verbal speech capability, use woman without speech. Do not use mute or dumb. Return to the Guidelines top Spinal cord injury Describes a condition in which there has been permanent damage to the spinal cord. Quadriplegia denotes substantial or total loss of function in all four extremities (some prefer tetraplegia to indicate complete paralysis of all four extremities). Paraplegia refers to substantial or total loss of function in the lower part of the body only. Say man with paraplegia or woman who is paralyzed Return to the Guidelines top Stroke Caused by interruption in flow of blood to brain. Hemiplegia (paralysis on one side) may result. Stroke survivor is preferred over stroke victim. Return to the Guidelines top If you have questions or comments about this web site contact us at the DDC Web.