n.05_September_October.2009.Englisch._

• BUSINESSSKlllSSAYITINSTYLE

TALKING ABDUT

DISABILITY

WievermeideichFettnäpfchen,wennichauf

EnglischüberdasThemaBehinderungspreche?

ANNAHOCHSlEDERgibtHilfestellung. '11'*"""i

T

hewal'wetalkaboutdisabilitieshaschanged

ovectheyears.Wordsthatwerccommonlyused

afewdecadesagaarenowconsideredunacccpt-

ahle.Mostoftlletime,disabilitiesnccdnotbemCIl-

tioned3.tall.YOllshouldrefcrtoaperson'sdisability

onlyifitISrelevant,andusingappropdatclanguage.

PeDplefirst

Alwaysputthepersonbeforethedisabiliry.Rather(han

referringlOsomeoncas«adisabledperson",say"aper-

sonwitha disability".Thisrulealsoapplieswhenwe

talkaboUldifferentkindsofdisabilities:

• Somepeople withautismhave unusua! skil!s. (rather
  than:"somcamisrlcpcople")


• Mybosshasepilepsy.(ratherthan:"isanepileptic")
  Ncverreferto"thedisabled","theblind",etc.asa uni-
  formgroup.Insread,say,forexample:


• Thetowncouncilisplanningtocreatemorejobsforpen-
  piewhoareblind.

AVDidDutdatedlanguage

OffensjvetermsaresomctimesuseJOutofignorallce

becausetheyusedtobenormalterminology.Becarcful

not[()usewordsthatareconsideredrabooroda}'.Wc

say,forcxample:

• apersonwithcerebraIpalsv(not:"'aspastic")


• apersonwithDown'ssyndrome(not:"amongoloid")


• apersonwithanintellectual/acognitivedisability(not"a
  mentallyrerardedperson")


• helsheis~andnon-verbal(not:"de3.fand.d..u.m.h")


• apersonofshort~(not;"a~miJget"l


• peoplewithoutdisabilities(not:"normal/hcalthrpeo-
  pie")
  Somewell-mcanjnl:peoplehaveinvcnredeuphemjsms
  suchas"'diffcrcntlyabled","verticallychallenged"or
  "sp(.'cialpeoplc".SuchtermsareDatronjzjnl;andshould
  alsobeavoidcd.

Don'tvictimlze

Ratherthanporrrayingpeoplewirha disabilityaspco-

pieyoushouldJ2inr.,uscindusivelanguage.Say:

• Janehadpolioasachild.(not:"'is 3 v;crimofpolio")


• Johnusesa wheelcharr.(not:"iscnnfined(0a wheel-
  chair")


• JiJl hasDown'ssyndrome.(not:"suffcrsfromDown's
  syndrome")

accesslbltltyI"k,scs,,'hll~lil

accesslble]:.k'scs:.boll

itdapted1;I'd:!:plldl

appropl'iate["'P~J

audioIoopf';,:dj;xlIlu:pl

cerebnlpaJsyL,~~'p:l:Izi]

CfInflned:be-tosth.Ihn'famdJ

deaf[def!

dumblJ.\mJ

dwarf[dll':>:f]

euphemism['jU:f:l,ffiIZ:lm]

guidedoti:f'galddOllJ

hearlngImpairmentC'hl;H"l1J1ID,pc.':orT1:1n1J

offensive[,,'rensIv)

patronlzin!!L'pa:n;on:l1LlliJ

rictim('·..."I'm!

well-me.ninJL,"-cl'mi:ml]1

50 BusinessSJXltlighI

Erreichbarkeit,

Zug3nglichkeit

barrierelrei

tureingeschr3nktmobile

MenschengeeIgnet

a~.richtig

lnduktloosschleile

ZerebraJparese

anetw.gefesseltsein

taub

stumm;umgangs-

sprachlich:doof

Zwerg(z.B.ImMarchen)

bescllOnlgenderAusdrUCk

Blindenhund

HOrschAdigung

etw.abhalten

Unkenntnis

eingeschr3nkteMobilitat

jmdn.YOI1eine!Sachein

Kenntnissetzen

beleidigend

herablassend

jmdn.bemitleiden

GetJardendolmetseherCinl

Statur

Opfer

wohlmeinend

Accessibility

Whendisabilityisa topicofdiscussion·inbusinesslifc,

(hisisusuallybecauseofproblemswithaccessibjliry.Do

youhavea mQbilieydisabiJiryandareplanninga busi-

nesstrip?AreyougoingtOhQsra confercncewherc

someonehasadisability?~yourbusinessparmers

inadvanceaboutanyspl'Cialrequircments:

• Iusea wheelchair. Istheconferencecentre inLondon
  accessible?


• Canyoubockanadaptedhotelroomforme,please?


• PleaseletthehotelknowthaiIwillbetravellingwithmy
  Imidedm:l:.


• Theconferenceroomisequippedwithanaudioloopfor
  peoplewitha hearingjmoairment.


• Wouldyou [ikeus 10 provideyou witha sign-Ianguage
  interpreter? []

~DoanexerciseonthistopleonBusinessSpotlightAudio

ANNAHOCHSIEOERisa Munich-basedteacherof

Englishasa SeeondLanguageandalsownteson

languageissuesInSpotlightandBusinessSpalllght.

Contact:a.hochSlederOspotlight-verlag.de

5/2009