Hyppää sisältöön
TACCU

Tampere Accessibility Unit

How to Meet Different Persons

Buildings and technology get most of the attention. But students with disabilities consistently report that how people treat them shapes their experience as much as any ramp or device.

The World Report on Disability records that in education some teachers believe they are not obliged to teach children with disabilities, and that even well-meaning educators hold low expectations. One study found that teachers shown disability labels held significantly more negative attitudes towards inclusion than teachers given identical descriptions of the same children without labels.

On this page we discuss some of the ordinary interactions and where they likely play out as a good starting point, most of the guidance can be applied immediately.

Five rules that cover almost everything

  • Ask, do not assume. If you are unsure whether to help, ask. If you are unsure what word to use, ask
  • Accept a no. Offering help is courteous. Insisting is not
  • Speak to the person, not to their companion, interpreter or support worker
  • Treat adults as adults. Ordinary tone, ordinary words, ordinary volume
  • Do not touch a person or their equipment without asking. A wheelchair is part of someone’s personal space, not furniture

Almost every mistake in this area comes from acting on an assumption instead of asking a short question.

Language

There is no single correct term. The United Nations Disability-Inclusive Language Guidelines recommend person-first language, meaning persons with disabilities, as a general default, and this manual follows that style. But the guidelines themselves carve out exceptions and stress asking, because persons with disabilities are not a homogeneous group.

A 2025 systematic review of 19 studies covering 6,350 autistic adults found most studies showed a majority preferring identity-first language, meaning autistic person, while person-first still had support ranging from 4% to 39%, and between 4% and 37% had no preference. The authors concluded that results vary widely and suggest no consensus. The National Center on Disability and Journalism now advises asking the person rather than naming a default.

So use person-first language in writing, and use whatever term an individual uses for themselves when speaking with them.

Avoid: suffers from, afflicted with, victim of, which imply powerlessness; wheelchair-bound, since a wheelchair enables movement rather than preventing it; special needs, handicapped, the disabled, differently abled, which are condescending; normal or able-bodied as the opposite of disabled; and calling someone brave or inspiring for doing ordinary things.

A note on local languages. For example Rwanda’s National Policy on Disability and Inclusion states that the Kinyarwanda term ”ubumuga” is applied interchangeably to what English separates into impairment, disability and handicap, and criticises service providers for focusing on inability rather than on removing barriers as a result. No equivalent terminology guide exists for most African languages and it is an open question for local disabled people’s organisations.

Meeting people in specific situations

NOTE: Every person with a disability is a unique individual and it is important to listen to their wants and needs. These general tips are meant to act as a starting point.

Someone who is blind or has low vision. Say who you are when you arrive, and say when you leave. Ask whether help is wanted and where the person is going. To guide, hold out your arm for the person to take rather than taking theirs. Call stairs and kerbs before you reach them. Read out what is on the screen or board. Do not distract a guide dog, and approach from the side away from the dog.

Someone who is Deaf or hard of hearing. Face the person and keep the light on your face. Speak at a natural pace, because shouting and exaggerated lip movements both make lip-reading harder. If you are not understood, rephrase rather than repeat louder. With an interpreter, speak to the Deaf person and allow for the lag. Without one, write or use a speech-to-text app. Again it is okay to ask as communication preference is individual.

Someone with a physical or mobility disability. Sit or crouch to eye level for any conversation of length. Do not lean on, push or move a wheelchair uninvited. Check the route in advance rather than discovering the barrier together.

Someone with a speech difference or who uses a communication aid. Allow time and do not finish sentences. If you did not understand, say so and ask them to repeat, rather than pretending. Repeat back what you understood so they can correct you.

Someone with an intellectual disability or learning difficulty. Use plain language and one idea per sentence. Give concrete instructions. Check understanding by asking the person what happens next, not by asking do you understand?. Include the person in decisions about them.

Someone with a mental health condition. Talk about it directly rather than around it. Use ordinary, person-centred phrasing. Do not treat a diagnosis as a prediction of behaviour.

Someone with an invisible or fluctuating condition. Chronic illness, pain and fatigue conditions vary from day to day. Someone who managed the stairs last week may not manage them today.  Saying you don’t look sick casts the person as a suspect rather than a student.

A neurodivergent person, including autistic people. Say what you mean, because metaphor, irony and sarcasm can be harder to interpret. Relax expectations about eye contact. Break instructions into steps and give them in a form the person can look at again. Allow processing time. Warn about changes to routine or rooms in advance.

Assistance animals. Do not touch, feed or talk to a working animal. Speak to the handler. Never grab the harness.

In teaching

Treat a disclosure as confidential, and tell the student who else will know. Do not ask a student whether they have a disability, and do not ask for medical detail. Route adjustment requests through the institution’s support arrangements rather than judging them yourself.

Disclosing is a decision, not a formality. Students disclose more readily to peers than to staff, and fear of stigma is a common reason for not disclosing at all. So a student who has said nothing may still be facing a barrier you could remove. Making the offer to the whole class, rather than to one person, is easier to take up.

What actually changes attitudes

Disability simulations usually backfire. Blindfolding staff or using a wheelchair for a day is a common training exercise, and the research on it is consistent and negative. A study in Social Psychological and Personality Science found that people who completed a blindness simulation afterwards rated blind people as less capable of working and living independently than a control group did. They projected the difficulty of their own first attempt onto blind people generally. A second study, Crip for a Day, found simulations more often produced fear and pity than empathy. Watching someone else do the exercise did not have this effect. Doing it yourself did.

Contact works when it is real and sustained. A scoping review of 48 studies found that interventions combining information with direct contact outperformed information alone, and that sustained interventions worked better than single sessions. One-off awareness sessions have weak and short-lived effects.

Individual goodwill is not enough. A study of lecturers at South African universities found they often lack institutional support, and argued that inclusion needs policy across the institution. Someone who wants to act and has no route to do it eventually stops trying.

The strongest thing an institution can do for attitudes is to employ and teach alongside disabled people, and to make the right action the easy one.

Checklist and practices

Every interaction:

  • Speak to the person, not their companion or interpreter
  • Ask before helping, and accept a no
  • Do not touch a person or their equipment without asking
  • Use ordinary tone and vocabulary, and give the conversation the time it needs

Language:

  • Person-first in writing, the person’s own term in conversation
  • Avoid ”suffers from”, ”wheelchair-bound”, ”special needs”, ”handicapped”, ”the disabled”, ”differently abled”
  • Avoid ”normal” as the opposite of disabled

In teaching:

  • Keep disclosure confidential and say who else will know
  • Do not ask about disability or medical detail
  • Route adjustment requests through the institution’s support arrangements
  • Offer alternatives to the whole class rather than to one student

Training:

  • Combine information with sustained contact
  • Involve disabled people as teachers and colleagues
  • Back training with policy

Remember:

  • A short question prevents almost every mistake on this page
  • The right term is the one the person uses
  • A wheelchair is personal space
  • Silence while someone composes a message is not empty
  • Simulations reduce how capable people judge disabled people to be
  • Article 8 of the Convention makes awareness-raising an obligation, not a courtesy

Links and references