List of disability-related terms with negative connotations#T
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The following is a list of terms, used to describe disabilities or people with disabilities, which may carry negative connotations or be offensive to people with or without disabilities.
Some people consider it best to use person-first language, for example "a person with a disability" rather than "a disabled person."{{Cite web|date=2018|title=Inclusive language: words to use and avoid when writing about disability |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-communication/inclusive-language-words-to-use-and-avoid-when-writing-about-disability |access-date=2020-06-10|website=gov.uk|language=en-gb}} However identity-first language, as in "autistic person" or "deaf person", is preferred by many people and organizations.{{Cite web|last=Haller|first=Beth|date=7 January 2016 |title=Journalists should learn to carefully traverse a variety of disability terminology {{!}} National Center on Disability and Journalism|url=https://ncdj.org/2016/01/journalists-should-learn-to-carefully-traverse-a-variety-of-disability-terminology/|access-date=2020-08-30|language=en-US}}
Language can influence individuals' perception of disabled people and disability.{{cite journal |last1= Andrews |first1= Erin E. |last2= Balter |first2= Rochelle |last3= Forber-Pratt |first3= Anjali J. |last4= Lund |first4= Emily M. |last5= Mona |first5= Linda R. |last6= Pilarski |first6= Carrie R. |date= 2019 |title= #SaytheWord: A Disability Culture Commentary on the Erasure of "Disability" |url= https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-news/files/20190426152448/Andrews.Forber-Pratt.Mona_.Lund_.Pilarski.Balter-2019-RP-Say2.pdf |journal= Rehabilitation Psychology |volume= 64 |issue= 2 |pages= 111–118 |doi= 10.1037/rep0000258 |pmid= 30762412 |accessdate= 2023-03-19}} Views vary with geography and culture, over time, and among individuals. Many terms that some people view as harmful are not viewed as hurtful by others, and even where some people are hurt by certain terms, others may be hurt by the replacement of such terms with what they consider to be euphemisms (e.g., "differently abled" or "special needs"). Some people believe that terms should be avoided if they might hurt people; others hold the listener responsible for misinterpreting terms used without harmful intent.{{cn|date=March 2023}} For example, crazy should be avoided in describing persons or their behaviors, but is less likely to cause offense if used as an intensifier as in "crazy speed".{{cite web|url=https://www.self.com/story/crazy-mental-health-stigma |title=No, You Shouldn't Call Someone 'Crazy.' But Do We Have to Ban the Word Entirely? |date=November 27, 2019|last=Gold |first= Jessica}}
For some terms, the grammar structure of their use determine if they are harmful. The person-first stance advocates for saying "people with disabilities" instead of "the disabled" or "a person who is deaf" instead of "a deaf person".{{cite web | url=https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm09/bm0903/bm090309.htm | title=People-First Language: An Unholy Crusade | date=March 2009 | access-date=24 January 2014 | last=Vaughan |first =C. Edwin}}{{cite web|last=Folkins|first=John |url=http://www.asha.org/publications/journals/submissions/person_first.htm |title=Resource on Person-First Language – The Language Used to Describe Individuals With Disabilities |work=American Speech–Language–Hearing Association |date=December 1992 |access-date=24 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511071056/http://www.asha.org/publications/journals/submissions/person_first.htm |archive-date=11 May 2015 }}{{cite web | url=http://www.unitedspinal.org/pdf/DisabilityEtiquette.pdf | title=Disability Etiquette – Tips On Interacting With People With Disabilities | publisher=United Spinal Association | year=2008 | access-date=24 January 2014}} However, some advocate against this, saying it reflects a medical model of disability whereas "disabled person" is more appropriate and reflects the social model of disability.{{cite web | url=http://www.xojane.com/issues/i-am-not-a-person-with-a-disability-i-am-a-disabled-person | title=I'm Not A "Person With a Disability": I'm a Disabled Person | work=XoJane | date=9 November 2012 | access-date=24 January 2014 | last=Egan |first=Lisa}} On the other hand, there is also a grammar structure called identity-first language that construes disability as a function of social and political experiences occurring within a world designed largely for nondisabled people.{{Cite journal|last1=Dunn|first1=Dana S.|last2=Andrews|first2=Erin E. |title=Person-first and identity-first language: Developing psychologists' cultural competence using disability language.|journal=American Psychologist|language=en|volume=70|issue=3|pages=255–264 |doi=10.1037/a0038636|pmid=25642702|year=2015}}
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A
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| A few sandwiches short of a picnic
|Used of people perceived as having reduced or limited mental faculties. Numerous derivatives with no known original (e.g. "a few books short of a library"). |{{cn|date=May 2023}} |
| Able-bodied
|There is an implied value judgement comparing a person with a disability versus one without |
| Abnormal
| |
| Addict
| |
| Afflicted
| |
| Attention-seeking
|Used of people who are suffering emotionally |
| Acoustic
|An intentional malformation of autistic, used as a synonym in pejorative contexts |
| Autistic
|Or autism, when used as an insult |{{cite web |last=Kent |first=Tamsyn |date=6 November 2009 |title=Has 'autism' become a term of abuse? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8345282.stm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815163616/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8345282.stm |archive-date=2015-08-15 |access-date=30 September 2015 |work=BBC News}} |
B
C
D
E
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| Epileptic
| |
| Exceptional
| |
F
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| Feeble-minded or Feeb
| |
| Fit
|In reference to an epileptic seizure |
| Flid
|People with phocomelia from birth mother's use of thalidomide |
| Freak
| |{{cite book |last=Quackenbush |first=Nicole |title=Bodies in Culture, Culture in Bodies: Disability Narratives and a Rhetoric of Resistance |publisher=ProQuest LLC |year=2008 |location=Ann Arbor, MI |pages=118–127}} |
G
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| Gimp or gimpy
|A limp or a person with a limp |
H
I
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| Imbecile
|Was originally the diagnostic term used for people with IQ scores between 30 and 50 when the IQ test was first developed in the early 1900s. It is no longer used professionally. Before the IQ test was developed in 1905, "imbecile" was also commonly used as a casual insult towards anyone perceived as incompetent at doing something. |{{Citation |last=Rapley |first=Mark |title=The Social Construction of Intellectual Disability |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KdQS5Z_mGbQC&pg=PA32 32] |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KdQS5Z_mGbQC |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-00529-6}}.{{Citation |last1=Cruz |first1=Isagani A. |title=Correct Choice of Words' : English Grammar Series for Filipino Lawyers |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=I2FnOYgu6IsC&pg=PA444 444–445] |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2FnOYgu6IsC |edition=2003 |publisher=Rex Bookstore, Inc. |isbn=978-971-23-3686-7 |last2=Quaison |first2=Camilo D.}}. |
| Incapacitated
| |
| Idiot
|Was originally the diagnostic term used for people with IQ scores under 30 when the IQ test was first developed in the early 1900s. It is also no longer used professionally. Before the IQ test was developed in 1905, "idiot" was also commonly used as a casual insult towards anyone perceived as incompetent at doing something. |
| Illiterate
|Now considered imprecise and blames the person for something caused by the condition of the educational system. |
| Inmate
|When referring to a psychiatric admission |
| Insane
| |
| Inspirational or inspiring
|When used about somebody doing a very ordinary activity, a phenomenon of spectacle known as "inspiration porn" that is based on pity; not to be confused with legitimate public activities of mass spectacle such as Special Olympics or Paralympics, which celebrate talent without pity or mockery. |
| Invalid
| |
J
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| Junkie
| |
L
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| Lame
|In reference to difficulty walking or moving. The term has since been adopted into urban slang to generally refer to something or someone as "meaningless" or "without worth", e.g. "He told us a lame excuse for why he had not done the work." |
| Losing one's mind
| |
| Losing / Lost one's marbles
| |{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} |
| LPC – Likely to become a public charge
| |
| Lunatic or looney
| |
M
N
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| Narc, narcissist
|Does not mean the same as abuser |{{Cite web |last=Wilding |first=((Melody (contributor))) |date=November 2018 |title=I'm a professor of human behavior, and I have some news for you about the 'narcissists' in your life |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/narcissism-vs-narcissist-2018-11 |access-date=2020-06-10 |website=Business Insider}} |
| Not the brightest bulb / Not the sharpest tool in the shed
|Mentally disabled derogatory term |{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} |
| Nut, nuts, or nutter, nuthouse, etc.
| |
O
P
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| Patient
| |
| Paraplegic
| |
| Psycho(tic)
| |
| Psychopath
|A dated term used for a person with a mental illness |
Q
R
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| Retard/Retarded
|Before the 1990s this was considered acceptable by most non-disabled people and organizations.{{Cite web |last=Hodges |first=Rick |title=The Rise and Fall of "Mentally Retarded" – Member Feature Stories |url=https://medium.com/s/story/the-rise-and-fall-of-mentally-retarded-e3b9eea23018 |access-date=2018-10-12 |website=Medium}} Also known as the r-word.{{Cite book |last=Andrews |first=Erin E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCy7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 |title=Disability as Diversity: Developing Cultural Competence |date=2019-11-01 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-065232-6 |pages=76 |language=en}} |
S
T
U
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| Unclean
| |
| Unfortunate
| |
| Unhinged
| |
V
W
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| Wacko
| |
| Wheelchair bound and "confined to a wheelchair"
|Preferred use is "person who uses a wheelchair" |
| Window licker
| |{{cite web |author=Ipsos MORI |author-link=Ipsos MORI |date=September 2016 |title=Attitudes to potentially offensive language and gestures on TV and radio |url=https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/publication/1970-01/connect-ofcom-offensive-language-2016.pdf |access-date=3 November 2017}}{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Noel 'Razor' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KrDYBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT236 |title=The Criminal Alphabet: An A-Z of Prison Slang |date=2015 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=9780141946832 |page=236 |language=en}} |
Y
| class="wikitable"
!Term !Notes !References |
| Yuppie flu
| Used as a pejorative term for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). This originated from the media stereotype of people with CFS as ambitious, young, and affluent ("yuppies"), rather than having a genuine illness. |
See also
References
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External links
- [http://www.unitedspinal.org/pdf/DisabilityEtiquette.pdf Disability etiquette - Tips On Interacting With People With Disabilities] – United Spinal Association
- [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-communication/inclusive-language-words-to-use-and-avoid-when-writing-about-disability Inclusive language: words to use when writing about disability] - Office for Disability Issues and Department for Work and Pensions (UK)
- [https://ncdj.org/2015/09/terms-to-avoid-when-writing-about-disability/ List of terms to avoid when writing about disability] – National Center on Disability and Journalism
- {{cite web | last=Nović | first=Sara | title=The harmful ableist language you unknowingly use | website=BBC Worklife | date=30 March 2021 | url=https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210330-the-harmful-ableist-language-you-unknowingly-use}}
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