Pearls:

The language that we use around disability has a lot of power and its important that we be thoughtful in how we address these patients.

Perception of Healthcare Providers Amongst Patients with Disabilities

Some see healthcare providers go too far to make everything all about their disability when they should be treated as a person first.

Patients with disabilities may feel that healthcare providers are not willing to understand their experience and what their priorities are.

Changing Our Language

Remove words in our lexicon such as suffering, afflicted, crippled, unfortunate that are negatively descriptive and don't add value.

The autistic community prefers identity-first language, “autistic,” rather than person-first language, “a person with autism.” Ask the patient what they prefer.

Similarly, instead of saying a patient is “handicapped”, use the term “person with a disability”, or use “accessible” when describing parking spaces or bathroom stalls, rather than “handicapped stalls” or “handicapped parking spaces.”

Instead of saying the person is “wheelchair bound”, say they are a “wheelchair user.”

Changing Our Mindset

As healthcare providers we may have very specific negative attitudes or conceptions about what the quality of life is like for people with disabilities, what they can do for themselves and their ability to be independent. This underlying bias then pervades all of our interactions with them.

It's important to first reflect on our own implicit bias and how that may affect our patients.

Spending time interacting with people with disabilities and learning a bit more about their lives will make us more comfortable caring for this patient population.

Do not make assumptions regarding what the patient’s life is like outside of a medical setting.

Always assume the person in front of you is capable of participating in their own care.