A person suffering from a mental or physical condition that impairs their normal life activity is said to suffer from a disability. Today we are going to take you through some tips which need to be followed for offering assistance to a person with a disability:
- It is extremely important to use the proper terminology when talking about people with disabilities. For example, you can replace “the mentally ill” or a “mentally ill person” with a “person who has a mental illness.” Similarly, refrain from saying “wheelchair-bound” and refer to them as a “person who uses the wheelchair” or “person in the wheelchair.” Terms like “dumb” or “mute” have been replaced by “nonspeaking” or “nonverbal.” Crippled or lame were previously used to refer to a person with a physical disability although terms like physically disabled are preferred now. Modern societal standards consider the terms “mentally defective” and “retarded” to be offensive. It is preferable to address them as a person with cognitive, developmental, or intellectual disabilities.
- You should always communicate directly with a person having a disability rather than filtering the conversation through someone else. People who are deaf often require the assistance of their interpreter while communicating with another person. However, you should look at the person who is deaf rather than the interpreter. If you are communicating with a person who uses a wheelchair, then sit down so that they don’t have to strain their neck for looking at you.
- We always try to help a person with a disability without knowing their specific intentions or requirements. But you need to ask before offering your assistance. As otherwise, you might end up doing more harm than good. Often a person with a disability might seem to be struggling with certain tasks but that doesn’t mean that they require a helping hand. If someone declines your assistance, don’t insist on helping or get offended.
- Always be respectful in your actions and words when interacting with someone with a disability. People often speak louder or slower when interacting with a deaf or dumb person. However, this can come off as rude and so it is advisable to speak in your normal tone and voice. You can do things to make communication easier like looking directly at the person who is hard of hearing so that they can follow visual cues like reading your lips. It is also considered polite to sit down and make eye contact with a person who uses a wheelchair.
Conclusion
A Fayetteville social security disability attorney can help people with disability get their rightful compensation so that you can carry out the medical expenses and therapies in the aftermath of the mishap which might leave you impaired. While conversing with a person with a disability, you need to be yourself. If you use a common expression accidentally like “see you later” to a visually impaired person, then do not apologize profusely as that person will most likely understand that this is not meant to be taken literally and is a plain colloquialism.
