Disability Awareness overview

With the different types of disabilities that have been mentioned, they all need to be responded to individually and not with a ‘one size fits all approach’.

Every situation needs to be managed and the correct levels of support need to be in place.

This can be achieved by open communication between all involved in the individuals support, and consistency in the strategies put in place must be adhered to.

All information relating to the individual must be in a care or support plan and this will need to be regularly updated and reviewed as part of the continuing support for the individual.

When supporting and responding to individuals who have identified or hidden disabilities using correct terminology and language is about being respectful to all people regardless of the abilities and background.

There are some simple things to consider and also avoid such as using the term suffer – for example ‘she suffers from epilepsy’, the alternative can be she ‘has epilepsy’ or ‘experiences epilepsy’. Another is being descriptive of a disabled person around their condition for example ‘he is a diabetic’, instead state ‘he has diabetes’. For those with mental health illness, we should avoid using terms like ‘she has a mental health problem’ and state term like individual has a difficulty or faces challenges due to her mental illness.

Terms for individuals with physical disabilities are ‘he is a wheelchair user’ not wheelchair bound as this can be seen as judgemental.

The best approach to take is to follow the lead of the individual you are supporting or with, for example a visually impaired person may end the conversation ‘see you next week’ and it is a phrase not to be taken literally.