Paralympic Language: Do's and Don'ts

The 2012 Olympics and Paralympics have been particularly memorable for Great Britain, the country proudly hosting the events this year, and there was no doubt that our country's excitement and achievements would be portrayed through the media. Journalists, bloggers and TV presenters have been incredibly busy to ensure that the public have been kept up-to-date on all events and specific highlights.

The Olympics, from the 27th of July to the 12th of August, was broadcasted by the BBC which provided live footage of events, medal ceremonies and interviews with medal winners and competitors. However journalists and TV presenters of Channel 4, broadcasting the Paralympics, may have found themselves harboring many questions and reservations as to what language to use when addressing disability for worry of being "a patronizing bore," said Channel 4 presenter Georgie Bingham, or offending disabled people. 

The language used during the Paralympics by journalists and TV presenters should portray the athletes' individuality. "Disabled people", featured in Jeremy Dear's article in the Disability Now Newspaper, is an acceptable term to use as opposed to "The disabled". The use of the article "the" implies a generic group without individuality, disempowering the athletes. 

Additionally, according to Disability Services, the sentence structure in which we use when referring to disability is also important in ensuring individuality. They propose that stating the person before the disability, creating an SVO structure, focus' on the individual rather than their disability. For example, "a person who is deaf" as opposed to "the deaf". 

The term "wheelchair users" is a preferred term over "wheelchair bound" which connotes restriction and being confined. Whereas many wheelchair users view their wheelchair as liberating; aiding movement and allowing them freedom. This is encapsulated in the Wheelchair events at the 2012 Paralympics.

Many people fall into stereotyping disabled people as victims, without knowing each individuals story or circumstance, which can be offensive and patronising. This is done by using verbs such as "suffers", "endures" or "puts up with", all having negative connotations. Using factual verbs with neutral connotations is favoured for example "has" as it does not create an unequal position between TV presenter and the athlete but it attempts to normalise the disability. 

Incidentally, adjectives with positive connotations achieve a similar affect. Using the adjectives "brave" or "amazing", for example, to describe the actions of a disabled person does not portray them as equal, but puts them on a pedestal which may be unnecessary. Would we describe the actions in the same way if the person were not disabled? 

Many Paralympians hope that the media coverage of the Paralympics will "dispel so many myths and misapprehensions that people may have about disability", wrote Ben Rushgrove. This will not only be achieved by the public watching the Paralympians, breaking boundaries and achieving new records, but through the language used by the media which shape our opinions and perceptions we have on people with disabilities.

Alexi Filsell