Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

A way with words

Guidelines for the portrayal of people
with a disability
A way with words

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 Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

A way with
words
Guidelines for the portrayal of people with a disability
A way with words

Acknowledgments
The Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services
would like to thank Joan Hume for permission to use ideas from her
booklet Media guidelines (Disability Council of New South Wales
1994) in this publication; Cathy Wilcox for permission to reproduce
her cartoons; and the Minister of Public Works and Government
Services Canada for permission to use parts of the document
A way with words and images: guidelines for the portrayal of persons
with disabilities (Social Development Canada 2002).

ISBN 9805057 4 0
© The State of Queensland 2012
Copyright protects this publication. Excerpts may be reproduced with
acknowledgment to the State of Queensland.

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

GPO Box 806
Brisbane Q 4001
www.communities.qld.gov.au
 Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

Contents
Introduction .............................................................................1
General guidelines..................................................................3
Appropriate language .............................................................8
Interviewing a person with a disability ..................................12
Providing public information to people with a disability ........15
Communicating with a person with a disability .....................19
Useful resources and references..........................................20
A way with words

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 Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

Introduction
Language plays a critical role in shaping and reflecting our thoughts,
beliefs and feelings. It should come as no surprise, then, that the way
in which we refer to people affects the way they are seen by others
and, indeed, the way in which they feel about themselves. Used over
and over again, a convenient phrase is no longer an attempt to
describe a person — it becomes a definition.
For decades, inappropriate terms and catchphrases were all too
common in the media’s portrayal of people with a disability. In recent
times, however, the media and the community in general have
become increasingly aware that using inappropriate language when
referring to people with a disability is offensive and demeaning. While
it is now uncommon for the media to use terms such as ‘cripple’ or
‘retarded’, people with a disability are still often referred to
in depersonalised terms such as ‘the disabled’ or ‘the handicapped’.
One of the most damaging effects of portraying people in this way
is that they are seen by others as being ‘different’. With the most
recent figures available showing almost one in every five people has
a disability (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2004), many people face
such marginalisation daily. It is discriminatory to set people with a
disability apart from the general community to which they belong.
Despite the growing number of people with a disability in the
community, they are sometimes ‘invisible’ in the media, except when
the story is about disability. The views of people with a disability as
a group or individually are seldom featured in stories dealing with
general interest issues such as child care, public transport or the
environment.

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A way with words

The purpose of this booklet is to promote inclusiveness and the

fair and accurate portrayal of people with a disability. It is intended
as an aid for professional communicators, such as journalists,
writers, producers and broadcasters, and provides suggestions for
appropriate language, interviewing techniques and media coverage
involving people with a disability.
As no set of guidelines can cover every possible contingency,
professional communicators should adopt the underlying principle of
positive portrayal of people with a disability — that is, put the person
before the disability.

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 Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

General guidelines
The following points are a guide to help you when reporting on
disability issues or portraying people with a disability in words
or images.

Emphasise individuality, not disability

People with a disability should be portrayed as individuals first.
Like everyone else they have emotions, interests, problems, talents,
frustrations and faults and have a number of roles such as parent,
friend, work colleague and club member.
As each person with a disability is an individual, the disability will
affect his or her life in different ways. You cannot assume that all
people with a disability share the same viewpoint, interests or outlook
on life. For example, you may find that one person with quadriplegia
will be training for the Paralympics, while another might be studying
at university, another working as a disability advocate, and yet another
mostly interested in studying the racing form guide.
Using appropriate language emphasises this individuality, rather than
the disability that a person happens to have. This does not mean that
the disability should be hidden, ignored or deemed irrelevant but it
should not be the focus of a story except when the subject is disability.

Avoid portraying successful people with a disability

as superhuman
Stories about superhuman over-achievers, such as those who abseil
down cliff faces in wheelchairs, usually attract a lot of interest. The
focus of these stories is usually on the person achieving in spite of
his or her disability.

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A way with words

People with a disability who excel in a particular sport, or area of

business or study are often depicted as superheroes rather than as
the successful sportspeople, students or business people they are.
Portraying the achievements of people with a disability as special or
superhuman sets them apart from mainstream society and is to be
avoided.

Avoid emotive portrayals of people with a disability

Media portrayal of people with a disability can sometimes imply that
they are to be pitied for living with such ‘tragedy’. These emotive,
‘tear jerker’ stories sometimes extend to the person’s family or carers,
again implying they are ‘martyrs’ for shouldering such a ‘burden’ as
having to care for someone with a disability. On other occasions the
media portrays people with a disability as somehow more courageous
or special than other people for just living as ‘normal’ a life as
possible. Stories sometimes refer to people as ‘suffering’ from, being
‘afflicted’ with or a ‘victim’ of a disability.

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 Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

The reality is that for many people, having a disability is just a fact of
life, not something to be dramatised or sensationalised. It would be far
better to focus media stories on associated disability issues such as
accessible transport and housing or employment opportunities.

Portray people with a disability as part of the community

and in a variety of roles
People with a disability are part of the community and should be
portrayed as such. They are generally able to participate in all aspects
of community life, but frequently the media report on people with a
disability only in the context of disability.
People with a disability have interests, careers and families like
everyone else. They also have opinions and thoughts about what
is happening in their community and in other parts of the world. Be
inclusive of the views of all community members by seeking out the
perspectives and opinions of people with a disability on issues that
affect the community as a whole.

Avoid stereotyping
Stereotypes can lead to discrimination as they take away a person’s
individuality. Every person with a disability is an individual and
should not be expected to display a specific range of personality
characteristics — for example, people with Down syndrome are
routinely described as ‘loving’. Such stereotyping denies the person
with the disability the right to express his or her individual personality.
Some common stereotypes to avoid include the following:
• Having a disability is a tragedy.
• People with a disability are objects of pity and charity.

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A way with words

• People with a disability who excel are superhuman.

• People with a disability who marry and have children are
extraordinary.
• People with a disability lead boring, uneventful lives.
• Families, particularly spouses, of people with a disability are
heroic.
• People with a disability are asexual.

Do not focus on a person’s disability unless it is important to

the story
In many media stories it is quite unnecessary to mention a person’s
disability, yet this characteristic is often highlighted. Focusing on a
person’s disability may result in your excluding other characteristics
of the person. This creates the impression that the person referred
to is somehow an oddity and not quite an ordinary member of the
community.
Frequently, when a person with a disability is featured in a story
that has several possible angles, the human interest story-line
predominates — for example, how the individual has overcome
overwhelming odds. This places the focus of the story on the disability.
The same is true for photographs, which can send very powerful
messages. They can focus on a person’s disability or equipment
used for mobility or communication rather than the person. They can
devalue the person by using inappropriate settings or perspectives.

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 Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

Avoid describing disability in medical terms

Describing a person’s disability in terms of a medical ‘condition’ —
such as epilepsy, polio, paraplegia, blindness, schizophrenia or autism
— focuses attention on the disability rather than on the person as an
individual. These terms also suggest sickness and imperfection and
reinforce negative assumptions and stereotypes about people with a
disability.

Broaden and deepen your understanding of disability issues

Before writing about disability issues or a person with a disability,
make sure you know what you are talking about. Speak to disability
groups and organisations to develop a general understanding of
their concerns, and ask them to put you in touch with some of their
members.
When researching a story on disability, talk to a person with a disability
about what he or she feels and thinks about a particular issue rather
than relying on the opinions of doctors and government agencies.

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A way with words

Appropriate language
In the general community, as well as in the disability community,
there is considerable debate about how people with a disability should
be described. Words and terms that are considered appropriate and
acceptable change over time. For example, once the word ‘cripple’ was
in common and respectable use. Today its use to describe a person
with a disability is considered offensive and unacceptable. The
same applies to words and expressions such as ‘insane’, ‘spastic’
and ‘handicapped’. Also unacceptable are words which imply a lack
of something or some kind of inferiority, such as ‘invalid’, ‘infirm’ or
‘incapacitated’.
The following list of inappropriate terms and appropriate alternatives
is a guide only. When considering which terms are most appropriate
to use in any situation it is best to ask the person how he or she
would like to be referred to.

Words to avoid Acceptable alternatives

abnormal, subnormal (These Specify the disability.
are negative terms that imply
failure to reach perfection.)

afflicted with (Most people with a person has (name of disability)

disability do not see themselves
as afflicted.)

birth defect, congenital person with a disability

defect, deformity since birth, person with a
congenital disability

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 Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

Words to avoid Acceptable alternatives

the blind, the visually impaired person who is blind, person with
a vision impairment

confined to a wheelchair, uses a wheelchair

wheelchair bound (A wheelchair
provides mobility, not
restriction.)

cripple, crippled (These terms has a physical disability, has a

convey a negative image of a mobility disability
twisted ugly body.)

the deaf person is deaf (This refers to

people who cannot hear but do
not necessarily identify with the
Deaf community.)
or
the Deaf (This refers to people
who identify themselves as part
of the Deaf community and who
use sign language. Using ‘Deaf
community’ is only appropriate
when referring to this particular
community.)

deaf and dumb (This is person who is deaf and

sometimes used to describe non-verbal
an inability to hear and speak, or
which dos not imply any Deaf people (This refers to
intellectual disability.) people who identify themselves
as part of the Deaf community
and who use sign language.)

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A way with words

Words to avoid Acceptable alternatives

defective, deformed Specify the disability.
(These are degrading terms.)

the disabled people with a disability

dwarf (Has negative short-statured person

connotations.)

epileptic person with epilepsy

fit, attack, spell seizure

the handicapped person with a disability

(If referring to an environmental
or attitudinal barrier then ‘person
who is handicapped by a
disability’ is appropriate.)

insane, lunatic, maniac, mental person with a psychiatric

patient, mentally diseased, disability (or specify condition)
neurotic, psycho, schizophrenic,
unsound mind (These are
derogatory terms.)

invalid (The literal sense of the person with a disability

word is ‘not valid’.)

mentally retarded, defective, person with an intellectual

feeble minded, imbecile, moron, disability
retarded (These are offensive,
inaccurate terms.)

mongol (This term is outdated has Down syndrome

and derogatory.)

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 Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

Words to avoid Acceptable alternatives

patient (Only use in context of person with a disability
doctor–patient relationship.)

physically challenged, person with a disability

intellectually challenged,
vertically challenged, differently
abled (These are ridiculous
euphemisms for disability.)

people with disabilities person with multiple disabilities,

(Refers to people who have people with a disability
multiple disabilities.)

spastic (Usually refers to a person with a disability

person with cerebral palsy or who
has uncontrollable spasms. This
is a derogatory term and often
used as a term of abuse. Should
never be used as a noun.)

special (This term is overused, Describe the person, event

e.g. ‘special’ person.) or achievement as you would
normally.

vegetative (This is an offensive in a coma, comatose,

and degrading term.) unconscious

victim (People with a disability has a disability

are not necessarily victims and
prefer not to be seen as such.)

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A way with words

Interviewing a person with a disability

Before the interview
• Ask if you should make any special arrangements in advance. An
interpreter, for example, may be needed if the person has hearing
loss or is not able to speak or communicate in a conventional way.
• Ask the person being interviewed to choose where to meet.
Not all places are accessible to people with a mobility disability.
Additionally, lack of affordable, accessible transport may be an
issue. A person with a hearing impairment may find it difficult to
concentrate if the surroundings are noisy.
• Try to interview the person alone, although a second person may
be necessary as an attendant or an interpreter. Be aware that
sometimes friends and family may interrupt and presume to speak
for the person being interviewed. Stay on track and remember who
you are interviewing.

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 Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

During the interview

• Sit at the same level as the person being interviewed. Ask if you
can be heard clearly or if it is better to sit on one side rather than
another.
• Speak directly to the person and maintain eye contact rather than
interact directly with an interpreter or companion.
• Do not hold back from asking frank questions — for example, how
the person manages certain tasks. Usually people with a disability
are not precious and fragile about their disabilities. On the other
hand, intrusive personal questions (for example, about a person’s
sex life) can be very offensive. Be matter-of-fact but remember that
honest answers deserve honest treatment and should never be
used in a sensational or morbid way.
• Be honest about the story angle. If the story is about discrimination
in the workplace then including details about a person’s medical
condition, unless relevant, is quite unjustified.
• Do not gratuitously emphasise physical differences or adaptive
aids and technologies in stories or photographs unless these are
the focus of, or relevant to, the story. If a person in a wheelchair is
being interviewed about neighbourhood environmental pollution,
for example, the visual focus should be the person, not the
wheelchair.
• Do not assume you understand how the person feels about having
a disability. Even if you know someone with a similar condition, the
person you are interviewing may not think or feel the same way.
Ask the person how he or she feels.

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A way with words

• Do not feel embarrassed or guilty if you have difficulty

understanding the person you are interviewing. He or she will
probably have experienced this before and will have developed
ways of coping. Be patient and persevere. Never pretend to
understand. Instead, repeat what you have understood and allow
the person to respond.
• Resist the pressure to get the 30-second grab. Allow the person
you are interviewing the courtesy of telling events and particular
details at his or her own pace.

After the interview

Ask yourself:
• How can I portray the person I have just met in the most positive
way, being mindful not to sensationalise or patronise his or her
situation?
• Is a reference to a disability necessary to the story? If it is,
am I using appropriate terminology?
• Is this piece accurate and unbiased? Have I avoided
sensationalism?

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 Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

Providing public information to people

with a disability
Relying on print media or verbal communication only to get
your message out will place many people with a disability at a
disadvantage. Presenting your material in a range of formats allows
a wide range of groups in the community, not just people with a
disability, to access information. Some formats cater to the needs
of more than one disability group, and some will be of benefit to the
community in general. The following is a brief description of suitable
formats for different disability groups.

People with a vision impairment

Effective ways of providing information to people who are blind or
have a vision impairment include:
• large print
Text can be produced in a variety of sizes to meet individual needs.
Printed material should ideally be in a sans serif font and 16 point,
with a minimum size of 11 point. Use a text colour that contrasts with
the background (avoid red type as it has poor contrast and makes
it difficult for people to read). Black type on white or off-white
background is optimal. Use style devices such
as underlining, italics and hyphenation sparingly.
• information and communication technology
Providing information electronically, either on a website, through
email or an electronic file/document, can be a good option if the
information is prepared in an appropriate format.
Unlike sighted people, most computer users who are blind or
vision impaired do not use a mouse. Many use a screen reader

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A way with words

or, in some cases, a braille keyboard. A screen reader is software

that works with a speech synthesiser to read aloud everything on
a computer screen, including icons, menus, text, punctuation and
control buttons. It reads across the screen from left to right, one
line at a time.
This software will attempt to ‘read’ any formatting — for example,
instead of reading columns from top to bottom it will read the first
line of text in the first column and then jump across to read the first
line of the next column. For this reason, it is best to keep formatting
(including tabs, tables and columns) to an absolute minimum in
your document.
Information provided as a PDF file should also be available
electronically as an RTF file. This will ensure it can be read by a
screen reader and will also be able to be enlarged by users to suit
their needs.
Advice and guidelines for creating accessible websites are
available from the World Wide Web Consortium website
(www.w3.org/WAI).

• audiotape/CD-ROM
Newsletters, books and reports can be produced on audiotape or
CD-ROM. It is best to use an organisation that specialises in the
production of audio material for people with a print disability, such
as the Queensland Narrating Service. Costs are minimal.

• radio
4RPH 1296AM is the Queensland radio station for the print
handicapped. The station airs a wide range of printed material,
including newspapers, magazines, books and journals to people
who for reasons of age, disability or literacy problems cannot
handle or read information in a printed format.

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 Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

• braille
Braille is used by a small proportion of people who are blind.
Documents on computer file can be converted into braille using
braille conversion software and printed out by a braille embosser.

People with a hearing impairment

Effective ways of providing information to people who are deaf or
have a hearing impairment include:
• written/printed information
Printed information should be written in plain English and
include cartoons, diagrams, photographs and pictures to help
communicate your message clearly.
• captioning
Captioning films, videos, television programs and advertisements
assists viewers who are deaf or hearing impaired to understand
what they are not able to hear.
• telephone typewriter (TTY) and/or National Relay Service (NRS)
Organisations can communicate with people who are profoundly
deaf through the use of a TTY or the NRS.
• sign language
Skilled sign-language interpreters are available for seminars,
meetings, conferences and other community events. Qualified
interpreters can be booked through the Deaf Services Queensland
and the Far North Queensland Deaf Interpreting Service.
• audio loop
An audio loop in public meeting places such as halls, churches,
seminar rooms, lecture theatres and schools will allow people who
use hearing aids to participate.

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A way with words

People with an intellectual disability

People with an intellectual disability may require information to be
presented in a brief and clear but not patronising or childlike manner.
Written information may need to be supported by symbols, pictures or
photographs.

People with a physical disability

People with a mobility disability, including those with a temporary
disability, may find their access to mainstream information limited.
They may be unable to travel to libraries or meetings or may
encounter difficulties with inaccessible buildings. They too may prefer
to receive information via the internet, email, radio, DVD or disk.
People with a manipulatory disability have difficulty holding and/or
moving objects as a result of nerve injuries, arthritis or amputation.
They may find it difficult to hold books or papers and turn pages.
When providing information for this audience, the formats to consider
include the internet, disk, DVD and radio.

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 Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

Communicating with a person with

a disability
Some guidelines to follow when talking with a person with a disability
include the following:
• Establish and maintain eye contact at the same level as much as
possible.
• Face and speak directly to the person rather than through the
companion, attendant or sign-language interpreter who may also
be present.
• Never speak about the person as if he or she is invisible, cannot
understand what is being said or cannot speak for himself or
herself.
• Do not put people with a disability on a pedestal or talk to them in
patronising terms as if their performing normal, everyday activities
was exceptional — for example, ‘Oh, you cook your own meals.
How amazing!’
• Always respect the person’s dignity, individuality and desire for
independence. If help is required in a given situation, do not assist
without asking first.
• Refer to adults with a disability in the same way you would refer
to any other adult. Do not refer to them by their first names where
in similar circumstances with an interviewee who does not have a
disability you would use a title such as mister, ms or doctor.

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Useful resources and references

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2004, Disability, ageing and carers,
Australia: summary of findings, cat. no. 4430, ABS, Canberra.
Barnes, Colin 1992, Disabling imagery and the media: an exploration
of the principles for media representations of disabled people, British
Council of Organisations of Disabled People & Ryburn Publishing
Limited, Halifax, UK.
Bulsara, Ashwin n.d., Depictions of people with disabilities
in the British media, Media Diversity Institute, London,
viewed 18 August 2005, <http://www.media-diversity.org/>.
Greater London Action on Disability 2004, Writing about disabled
people fact sheet, Greater London Action on Disability, London,
viewed 15 April 2005,
<http://www.glad.org.uk/services/factsheets>.
Hume, Joan 1994, Media guidelines, Disability Council of New South
Wales, Sydney.
National Center on Disability and Journalism 2004, Tips for
journalists: interviewing people with disabilities, National Center on
Disability and Journalism, Boston, viewed
18 August 2005, <http://www.ncdj.org/interviewing.html>.
Social Development Canada 2002, A way with words and images:
guidelines for the portrayal of persons with disabilities, Social
Development Canada, viewed
18 August 2005, <www.sdc.gc.ca/en/hip/odi/documents/
wayWithWords/way_with_words.pdf>.
Tuller, David 2002, Reporting diversity manual, Media Diversity
Institute, London.

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Guidelines for the portayal of people with a disability

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2085-10 OCT2012

For more information visit www.communities.qld.gov.au/disability

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