People First Language

WHAT IS PEOPLE FIRST LANGUAGE?

People First Language (PFL) was developed to respectfully speak about people with disabilities. The number one focus of PFL is putting the person before his/her disability because the disability is only a small part of the whole person. PFL highlights a person's strengths, abilities and potential to succeed instead of labeling the individual or confining the person to an established stereotype.

Remember: concentrate on the person, not the disability!

Contact Panhandle Down Syndrome Guild to learn more.

Say:

Children (or people) with disabilities
He has a disability
She has a cognitive disability
People with cognitive disabilities
She has Down syndrome
My son has autism
He has a learning disability
She has a physical disability
My son has a physical disability
She is of short stature
She has an emotional disability
He uses a wheelchair (or mobility chair)
Typical children; kids without disabilities
He receives special ed services
He needs behavior supports
He has a brain injury
Accessible parking/bathroom
She needs... She uses...

Instead of:

the disabled, the handicapped
he's disabled; he's handicapped
my daughter is retarded
the (mentally) retarded
she's Down's; she's mongoloid
my son is autistic
he's learning disabled; he's LD
she's a quadriplegic or a cripple
my son is disabled
she's a dwarf
she's emotionally disturbed
he's confined to a wheelchair he's wheelchair bound
normal kids or healthy kids
he's in special ed
he has behavior problems
He's brain damaged
handicapped parking/bathroom
she has a problem with... she can't