Refer to someone as a “wheelchair user,” rather than say she is “confined to a wheelchair,” which is a fallback to worn-out terminology that plays to the old “crippled” mindset.
Cait had a boss who traveled to more 90 countries using a wheelchair. When an airline lost his wheelchair, he adapted a luggage cart. Clearly, this man was not confined.
March 30th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
I am a Wheelchair user who is confined to his wheelchair if I want to get from A to B. I find “handicapped” insulting but I am a wheelchair user. I have no legs so the chair is my best option. I have been disabled all my life and I think there is a great deal of terminology that is offensive but there is a line where we need language to describe our disabilities so whatever makes individuals uncomfortable is wrong for them.