List of disability-related terms with negative connotations

The following is a list of terms used to describe people with disabilities or disabilities, these terms may be considered negative and/or offensive by people with or without disabilities.

There is a great deal of disagreement as to what should be considered offensive. Views vary with geography and culture, over time, and among individuals. Many terms that some people view as offensive are not viewed as offensive by others, and even where some people are offended by certain terms, others may be offended by the replacement of such terms with what they consider to be euphemisms (e.g., "differently abled" or "special needs"). Some people believe that terms should be avoided if they might offend people; others hold the listener responsible for misinterpreting terms used with non-offensive intent.

B

• "Brain problems" A term that implies the person lacks a fully functioning brain and is incapable of acting rationally. Offensive because the term is too general and is used to describe an illness that is beyond the individual's control.

C

• Cripple used to mean "a person with a physical or mobility impairment." Its shortened form, "crip" is often used by some people with disabilities as a term of endearment. See also the essay On Being a Cripple by Nancy Mairs.

D

• "Differently abled". While it may have been originally intended to draw the attention away from the person's disability to an area where he or she excels (music, or math, as two examples), the phrase can come across as being patronizing or condescending toward that person.
• "Diseased". Can be construed as an insult when referring to a non-transmittable disability.
• "Downy". Refers to someone with Down syndrome. Often used to insult a non-affected person by implying that the person has the disability.
• "Dimwit". Used as an insult toward someone without a very high intelligence.
• "Dwarf". See Midget.

F

• "Fucktard" is short for a "fucking retarded" person.

H

• Handicapped used to mean "person with a disability", and handicap for "disability".
• Hysterical used to be a blanket term for many conditions affecting women; it is derived from the Greek word hysteria which means "womb". It is now generally considered to be offensive when applied to a woman, because it implies her health problems are psychiatric in origin. The term mass hysteria is considered by some not to carry the same connotations.

I

• Imbecile was the formal term used for persons with an IQ of 25-50. It has since been phased out of formal use.
• Idiot was the formal term for persons with an IQ of 0-25. It is also no longer used.

J

• Joey, used as a derogatory term for someone with Cerebral Palsy (see Joey Deacon).

L

• Lame. An antiquated reference to difficulty walking or moving.

The term has since been adopted into urban slang to generally refer to something or someone as "meaningless" or "without worth."

M

• Midget. The word is used to mean "dwarf" and is widely considered offensive.
• "Mongol," "Mongoloid," "Mong," or "Mongolism" for Down syndrome originated from the perception that facial features of people with Down syndrome were similar to those of people from Mongolia. The term is widely considered offensive.
• Moron was formerly a formal term used for persons with an IQ of 50-75. It is no longer used in a medical context and has generally acquired negative implications.

P

• Pinhead is a vulgar term denoting a person afflicted with the congenital deformity microcephaly. Microcephalics have been exhibited in freak shows billed as "human pinheads"; Zip the Pinhead was famously exhibited by P. T. Barnum for many years. Microcephalics are characterized by a small, tapering cranium and often, though not always, impaired mental faculty, which is the basis for the disparaging, ad hominem abusive, attribution of the term pinhead to others with whom the speaker disagrees or believes to be illogical.

R

• "Retard" literally means slow. It is used to describe someone with a learning disability, mental retardation, a significantly low IQ, or some other learning or developmental disability); this term "retard" is used as a vulgar term and is not used, unless it is deliberately used as a term of offense. Since there is no other connotation other than negative, it is always offensive.

• "Retarded" is prefaced by indicators such as Mild, Moderate, Severe or Profound. Retarded as a description of one's cognitive and adaptive functioning is a clinical diagnosis. In that respect, the term is not generally considered offensive and can be used to convey a great deal of information very quickly such as: IQ range, adaptive skills, level of care needs, etc. Increasing levels of mental retardation are associated with increasing degrees of brain damage. There has been at least some movement to replace the term 'retardation' with other terms such as 'developmentally disabled' or 'learning disabled' in both medical and educational settings.

S

• "Schizo" or "Schizoid" for schizophrenia is still in wide use among the general population, but has generally negative connotations.
• "Slow" or Slow learner as used to describe someone with a learning disability has generally acquired negative connotations.
• Spazz (or "Spaz," "Spazzy," "Spack," or "Spackhead") as used to describe someone with cerebral palsy has acquired negate connotations to some people.
• Special Ed is sometimes used to patronize, but is also still fairly commonly used as an official term in the educational system, although this use is sometimes considered controversial.

W

• "Wheelchair-bound" for someone who uses a wheelchair is unacceptable because of the word "bound" being used in it, which is akin to slavery's chains. "Wheelchair user" or "person who uses a wheelchair" is preferred, referring to the wheelchair as a tool rather than an entrapment.

Y

• "Yuppie flu" used as a pejorative term for chronic fatigue syndrome. This originated from the media stereotype of people with CFS as ambitious, young, and affluent, and having an illness indistinguishable from influenza, neither of which are accurate portrayals.

References

• Disability etiquette: appropriate language and behavior
• Terminology tips

• Obama discusses the signing of Rosa's Law