Language and Disabilities

[Guest guest]

Language and Disabilities

By Philip B. Corbett

http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/language-and-disabilities/?

scp=1 & sq=Language%20and%20Disabilities & st=cse

(After Deadline examines questions of grammar, usage and style

encountered by writers and editors of The Times. It is adapted from a weekly

newsroom critique overseen by Philip B. Corbett, the deputy news editor who is

also in charge of The Times's style manual. The goal is not to chastise, but to

point out recurring problems and suggest solutions. Since most writers are

likely to encounter similar troubles, we think these observations might interest

general readers, too).

Discussing Disabilities

We should take extra care in references to people with disabilities.

Here's The Times's stylebook entry:

disability, disabled. Mention disabilities only when their pertinence

will be clear to the reader. It is acceptable to speak of someone's

physical or mental disability, but more specific descriptions are

preferred: She cannot walk because of multiple sclerosis. When

possible, treat disabled as an adjective or a verb. As a noun (the

disabled) it may seem to equate widely diverse people and undervalue

the productive parts of their lives.

We're generally careful to adhere to the basic guideline, and our

references overall are sensitive and relevant. But we could do better

on the second point — trying, whenever feasible, to use words

like " disabled, " " blind " or " deaf " as modifiers, rather than nouns.

Consider these recent references:

•••

Software That Opens Worlds to the Disabled

… The competition was won by Bar Code Reader, the program to help the

visually impaired read information on grocery items. Second place

went to Mind Control, which allows the physically disabled to guide a

computer mouse by neural impulses. …

Project:Possibility directors have plans for more ambitious projects.

First, there will be a competition in February with teams of computer

science students at the University of California, Los Angeles, in

hopes of multiplying the number of programs to help the disabled.

•••

But studies led by a psychologist at the University of Hartford show

that for the blind, depending on when in life they lost their sense

of sight, the reverse seems to be true.

•••

Speaking to reporters on Sunday night at the Waldorf-Astoria, where

he was addressing a group from Yeshiva University, the governor was

somewhat circumspect about the skit and avoided mentioning it

directly. When asked if it had offended him, he kept any anger or

embarrassment in check and deflected the question with an answer

about high unemployment among the disabled.

•••

That is the world of the blind in Baghdad. An explosion's size and

nearness are judged by sound — a boom, a pop, a thud. Or by smell —

acrid means burning rubber; metallic, burning cars.

•••

The difference between " the disabled " and " disabled people "

(or " people with disabilities " ) is subtle but significant. The

shorthand might occasionally be unavoidable — in tight headlines, for

example. But it's better to refer to people who, among other

characteristics, have some disability, rather than to use the

disability as the sole label.

Some advocates, in fact, object to any phrase that refers to the

disability before the person. They would uniformly use " people who

are blind " rather than " blind people, " or " a person with a

disability " rather than " a disabled person. "

Such alternatives may not always be feasible — they are wordier and

may be awkward at times. But the point is clear, and important. A

person with a disability is a person, first of all, with many

characteristics beyond the disability.