I have a DISABILITY, not a disABILITY: The Language of Disability

By Nina

Words have immense power. They can be used to injure, uplift, defend, or attack. If I were to take two words that describe the same object, place, idea, or concept, they would both have drastically different connotations. This is especially true for language we use to describe disability. Throughout my life, I’ve heard people describe me in several ways: disabled, special needs, handicapped, physically challenged, and differently abled. People will also occasionally tell me that I’m “handi-capable” or that I have a “dis-ability.”

Every single one of those words has a different meaning, and most of them are negative. And that’s not okay! It is incredibly important that the language we use to describe disability isn’t hurtful, nor should it beat around the bush. I think that there are two distinct groups of harmful words describing disability: those that have a directly dangerous effect on perceptions of disability, and words with a more indirect effect. Words and phrases like “crippled”, “slow”, “physically challenged”, “handicapped”, “wheelchair bound”, or “suffers from ____” have strongly negative connotations. They suggest that disabled people are weak/victims, and disability is characterized as a strictly bad thing, which has a direct adverse impact on how disabled people are perceived.

The other group of words that I find problematic are those that try to hide that a disability is present: “special needs”, “differently abled”, “handi-capable”, or “dis-ability”. The use of these words is equally dangerous to the first group, though not at surface level. These words come from an admittedly misguided, yet good intention-- to curb the use of strongly negative words describing disability. However, all of these words have a very condescending tone, and they also seek to overlook the disability completely. The word “dis-ability” puts the emphasis on “ability”, as if to say disability doesn’t matter. “Handi-capable” has the same effect. “Differently abled” and “special needs” are terms that essentially represent the stigma surrounding the word “disability”. They are largely used outside of the disability community (which should be an indication that they aren’t the correct words to use). All of these words make it seem as though disability is something to be ashamed of, to hide from view. Because of this, they have a more indirectly dangerous impact on perceptions of disability.

“Disability” is not a bad word! It’s neutral-- which is exactly what we need a word of this type to be. If we are afraid of using this word, we as a society will continue to move in the wrong direction. My disability is not something to be ashamed of, nor does it mean that I am weak and powerless.

So please, I implore you:

Don’t call me handicapped

Don’t call me physically challenged

Don’t call me crippled

Don’t refer to me as special needs

Don’t call me differently abled

Don’t tell me I’m handiCAPABLE

Don’t tell me that I have a disABILITY

Don’t ever tell me I’m suffering

I have a disability, and it’s not a bad word.