Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Grammar Girl, Grammar Girl's, QDnow, and Quick and Dirty Tips are all trademarks of Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Some terms are offensive. Kelly grammar To answer some other comments about "PC" language not being concise--we've seen these changes for other minority groups already. It would be completely unacceptable to say "a Negro" instead of "a black man," despite the extra few letters. I think we can make room for language that does not discard people with disabilities. GG, I think you're incorrect about "handicapped parking," which is generally referred to as "accessible parking" these days. I also think we should excise the phrase "suffers from" as much as we can, since only an individual person can know whether he or she actually suffers because of his or her condition. "Wheelchair user" or "a person who uses a wheelchair" is a lot better than "in a wheelchair," since the person is certainly not always "in" the wheelchair. It really isn't all that awkward to use this sort of language once you get used to it, and I look at it as a chance to re-examine sentences and make them tighter and better, rather than a requirement to make things longer and more awkward. Language around cognitive disabilities is not uniform yet, however. In the U.S., we might use "developmental disability," "mental disability," or "cognitive disability," whereas in the U.K. they tend to use "learning disability." "Mental retardation" is no longer acceptable in general use. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=19954#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=19954#Comments Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:24:35 GMT mike grammar seriously there retarded they cant understand you so just say retard!!!! http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=19238#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=19238#Comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:16:18 GMT Jamie grammar Unlike rules such as whether to use all right or alright, this topic has a significant impact on people's lives. While it may seem PC and wordy to say "a person with cerebral palsy," part of the point is putting into action what we say. So by not saying disabled and saying a person with a disability, it is a reminder to us that there is more to this individual than their given diagnosis. No one is going to start yelling wildly if you say disabled. For someone with diabetes who is not going to be discriminated against because of their illness, maybe it's not such a big deal. But for people who have intellectual or physical disabilities that may cause people to see them as inferior, it's just a good practice. Words become reality. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=17286#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=17286#Comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:58:17 GMT June Kailes grammar Nice job on episode 155. You got it all right except for one detail: It is not “handicapped parking” just like it is not a “handicapped entrance”. There is nothing handicapped about the parking or the entrance, both facilitate access and do not create barriers, both are usable and accessible. Use • handicap” to describe an obstacle or barrier imposed by the environment or society. • accessible parking spaces, accessible bathrooms, accessible guest room, accessible entrance. Avoid • handicapped as an adjective when describing accessible features. • handicapped parking, handicapped bathroom, handicapped guest room. June Isaacson Kailes, Disability Policy Consultant jik@pacbell.net || www.jik.com Author of Language is More Than a Trivial Concern, Edition 9, Revised 1999. KAILES – Publications. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=17240#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=17240#Comments Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:23:55 GMT Admin Day grammar Political correctness is as confusing as it is annoying. For instance, we just had Administrative Assistant's Day. Now, it used to be just Secretary Day, but now it's Administrative Assistant's Day, Admin Day, Administrative Professionals Day, and I am now exhausted. Granted, I do not mean to in any way disparage the fine people that work in that field. They do frequently go woefully underappreciated, and contrasted with the function that they fulfill, just as much underpaid. They certainly deserve a little better, and more and more people that fill said role have bachelor's degrees or higher. There's even a lot of talk of practicing attorneys, members of the bar and the whole shebang, returning to work as paralegals just to be able to work in the field after hundreds, indeed thousands of lawyers are being laid off. (Granted, not too many hearts weep for them.) Still, as what a title means as the PC culture expands and insinuates itself even further into the popular lexicon, I wonder what we'll call secretary day next year. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=16735#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=16735#Comments Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:30:33 GMT Gunner K. grammar Due to severe financial crisis, some could not able to send their children in school. It affects intellectual capacity as well as the employment possibility of the person due to the competitiveness of his fellow applicants. Thus, allowing him to sometimes be involved in illegal activities. Payday loan store robbery is becoming an epidemic. Payday loan store robbery has occurred from coast to coast, and the number of them has been on the rise over the last two years. In 2007, an employee of a payday cash advance loan store was shot and killed while she worked alone. Another payday loan store was robbed in Indiana on April 17th. The number of violent robberies at payday loan stores keeps going up. Lenders, customers, and employees should all do all in their power to repair credit of the security in loan shops if it curbed the occurrences of payday loan store robbery. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=16677#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=16677#Comments Sat, 25 Apr 2009 04:46:41 GMT Hudson grammar I normally enjoy you episodes but not this. I am not trying to bash you in anyway. You are my role model, but this was not my favorite one.... http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=16236#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=16236#Comments Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:28:04 GMT Kate French grammar I found it offensive and puzzling that you completely avoided the mentally disabled. The stigma we face on a daily bases is so thick in our society that I feel I need to mention this oversight. I lived a "normal" life until the age of 31, when PTSD grasped my world. I faced it head on and refused to feel a moment of shame, regardless of the enormous social pressure to feel shame. I evolved through the battle I was faced with because of the woman I was in my core. I hope these words help those that don't receive acceptance, feel there is hope for all of us that struggle with mental illness. kaml http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=16121#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=16121#Comments Sat, 14 Mar 2009 20:33:04 GMT Hellen grammar Dear people with grammar obsessions, I am so interested in how you throw away all your views about concise writing to placate political intest groups. What happens to those people who are hearing unimpaired, people with abilities, people with hearing but not part of the DEAF COMMUNITY, who might want to write a direct sentence? I guess we can't refer to them as individuals. So, apparently Grammar Girl thinks that we can never describe a group of people, only individuals. Welcome to the 1984 style of PC writing. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=16031#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=16031#Comments Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:37:24 GMT Greg grammar I am all for sensitivity wherever there's room for it. For the most part, I agree with the article. But making up new ways of naming things just because the existing term has been used as a negative is really annoying and ultimately serves no one. Some circumstances and subjects may be unfortunate or unpleasant to speak of. So care should be taken to only speak of it when appropriate. Calling something by a new and longer name doesn't change what it is and does not inherently make it more sensitive either. Then there's the idea that everyone everywhere is somehow expected to know this new term, as if a mass memo has been shuffled around. I use my tone and mannerism to show sensitivity. I do not think anything else will do. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=15942#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx?commentid=15942#Comments Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:28:49 GMT Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:24:35 GMT http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/what-to-call-people-with-disabilities.aspx feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Managing Editor) feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Webmaster) en-us