Ableist Language And What You Can Say Instead
September 19th, 2020
When something goes sideways or someone makes poor choices - how do you describe it? If you say "crazy", "insane", "crippled", "blind spot" or "tone deaf" that's ableist.
Ableism is discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities or who are perceived with disabilities. Ableism implies that people with disabilities are inferior to those who do not have disabilities, or have less value to offer society. People with disabilities make up 25% of the U.S. population. You probably know several people with who have a disability, even if you might not be aware of it.
Words have power, especially if they are said repeatedly. Casually using words like those listed below can be hurtful, othering, or a painful reminder of how society views them as something that is considered bad or non-desireable.
As I started shifting away from the phrase "Hey Guys", I observed myself saying phrases that are harmful to people with disabilities or mental illnesses. While changing word choices does take some practice, the effort is more than worth it if you can avoid hurting someone or perpetuating discrimination.
Here are some common ableist words and what to say instead:
Crazy => unbelievable, outrageous, confusing, unpredictable, doesn't make sense
Insane => unreal, reckless, out of control
OCD => meticulous, anal retentive, hyper-focused
Only use OCD to describe someone with actual OCD
Dumb => uninformed, bad
Stupid => awful, not thinking clearly
Retarded => ridiculous
Lame => boring, uninteresting, uncool, monotonous
Crippled => frozen by, completely stuck
Blind / Blind Spot / Blinders => shortcoming, deficiency, failure, defect, ignorant about
Deaf => insensitive, oblivious, ignorant about
Tone Deaf => tackless, out of touch, out of context, read the room, willfully ignorant about
What other words would you add to this list?