15 AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE GUIDE
Disability
ableism
Stereotyping, prejudicial attitudes, discriminatory behavior, and social oppression toward people with disabilities to inhibit
their rights and well-being (APA, 2021c; Bogart & Dunn, 2019). Multiple attitudinal and cultural factors across global
societies lead to various forms of microaggressions and discrimination toward people with disabilities. It is important to
counter the deficit orientation that is often implicit in language used to refer to disability. For example, there is often a
tendency to infantilize people with physical disabilities or to assume a cognitive deficit if someone has a visible disability.
Everyday language and practices implicitly determine the worth of a person depending on whether they are “functional”
by medical standards. They rely on the false assumption that if someone does not have full use of their body; cognitive,
sensory, or neurological functions; or emotional health they are somehow less valuable or less capable than someone who
does. More recently, there has been a shift away from the medical, deficit-based model of disability to the social model of
disability. As described by Dunn and Andrews (2015), the social model presents disability as a neutral characteristic borne
out of external, social barriers preventing accessibility and participation. More recently, disability has been advanced as
an important and valued aspect of diversity (Andrews et al., 2019).
accessibility
“A process shaped by what one needs to do, one’s interactions with the environment, and one’s personal preferences.
Accessibility is achieved when people with disabilities can ‘acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions,
and enjoy the same services’ as people who do not have disabilities” in “an equally effective and equally integrated
manner with substantially equivalent ease of use” (Office of Civil Rights, 2013, para. 3). For further guidance on writing
for accessibility, consult PsycLearn’s Cultivating an Accessibility Mindset resource.
disability
A broad concept that describes the interaction of physical, psychological, intellectual, and socioemotional differences with
the social environment (World Health Organization, 2001). The members of some groups of people with disabilities—
effectively subcultures within the larger culture of disability—have ways of referring to themselves that they would prefer
others to adopt. The overall principle for using disability language is to maintain the integrity (worth and dignity) of all
individuals as human beings (APA, 2020b, 2022a).
universal design
The process of creating products and built environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without
the need for adaptation (APA, 2019).

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE GUIDE 16
TERM TO AVOID SUGGESTED ALTERNATIVE COMMENT
Use of person-first and identity-first language rather than condescending terms
special needs
differently abled
multiabled
physically challenged
mentally challenged
mentally retarded
handi-capable
handicapped
suffering with... [disability or
condition]
person with a disability
person who has a disability
disabled person
people with intellectual disabilities
child with a congenital disability
child with a birth impairment
physically disabled person
person with a physical disability
Use person-first or identity-first
language as is appropriate for
the community or person being
discussed. The language used
should be selected with the
understanding that disabled
people’s expressed preferences
regarding identification
supersede matters of style.
There are some patterns—
people with physical and
intellectual disabilities often
prefer person-first language,
whereas the autistic community
and people with sensory
disabilities (e.g., blind people)
often prefer identity-first
language. Avoid terms that are
condescending or patronizing.
mentally ill person with a mental disorder
person with a mental illness
person living with a mental health
condition
Description of Deaf or hard-of-hearing people
person with deafness Deaf person
person who is deaf
Most individuals who belong
to the Deaf or Deaf-Blind
cultures prefer to be called
Deaf or Deaf-Blind (capitalized)
rather than “hearing-impaired.”
The word “deaf” with a
lowercase “d” is used to refer
to audiological status, whereas
“Deaf” with an uppercase “D”
“refers to a particular group
of deaf people who share a
language—[for example,]
American Sign Language—
and a culture” (National
Association of the Deaf, n.d.,
“Deaf” and “deaf” section).
hearing-impaired person
person who is hearing impaired
hard-of-hearing person
person who is hard-of-hearing
person with hearing loss

17 AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE GUIDE
TERM TO AVOID SUGGESTED ALTERNATIVE COMMENT
person with deafness and blindness Deaf-Blind person
a Deaf person with low vision
a person who is deaf with low vision
Some individuals prefer to
use Deaf+ (to include other
intersectional identities) when
referring to themselves.
Description of blind people and people who are visually impaired
person with blindness blind person
person who is blind
People who have complete or
almost complete loss of sight
may be referred to as “blind.”
Other terms are acceptable
for those with a vision-based
disability.
visually challenged person
visually impaired person
vision-impaired person
person who is visually impaired
person who is vision impaired
sight-challenged person
person with low vision Some people may object to
the term “visually impaired”
because of the negative
connotation of the word
“impaired.” The use of such
terms is complex, often
culturally bound, and deeply
personal. If you are uncertain
about how someone identifies,
it is recommended that you ask
what identity-first or person-
first terms they prefer (e.g.,
“blind” or “blind person” vs. “a
person with blindness”). (For
further guidance on this topic,
please consult the National
Center on Disability and
Journalism, 2021.)
Use of pictorial metaphors, negativistic terms, and slurs
wheelchair-bound person
confined to a wheelchair
cripple
invalid
gimp
wheelchair user
person who uses a wheelchair
person with a physical disability
Avoid language that
uses pictorial metaphors,
negativistic terms that imply
restriction, and slurs that insult
or disparage a particular group.
As with other diverse groups,
insiders in disability culture
may use these terms with one
another; it is not appropriate for
an outsider (e.g., a nondisabled
person) to use these terms.

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE GUIDE 18AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE GUIDE 18
TERM TO AVOID SUGGESTED ALTERNATIVE COMMENT
AIDS victim
HIV patient
person with AIDS
person with HIV
person living with HIV
HIV-positive person
For additional guidance on
avoiding stigma when using
language to describe people
living with HIV, visit the Guide
to Talking about HIV (CDC,
2022b).
brain damaged person with a traumatic brain injury
(TBI)
defective
nuts
crazy
person with a mental disorder
person with a mental illness
person living with a mental illness
alcoholic person with alcohol use disorder
addict person with substance use disorder
Ableist terms and phrases in everyday language
stand up for support
champion
turn a blind eye to ignore
refuse to notice
be myopic or shortsighted ignore
miss
have a blind spot for show unconscious bias
blind review
blind coding
anonymous review
masked review
masked coding
color blind deuteranomaly, achromatopsia (or
other type of color-vision deficiency)
color-vision deficiency

19 AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE GUIDE
TERM TO AVOID SUGGESTED ALTERNATIVE COMMENT
fall on deaf ears be willfully ignorant
deliberately ignore
Ableist terms and phrases
are pervasive in everyday
language. Although the use
of these ableist terms may be
unintentional, be thoughtful
about how to avoid language
that denigrates disabilities.
tone deaf insensitive
out of context
midget little person
person of small stature
dwarf
having dwarfism (Little People of
America, 2021)
lame boring
mundane
uncool
lend your voice support
everyone should have a voice [in this
matter]
everyone should have input
make your voice heard express your perspective/opinion
able-bodied nondisabled
For more information on problematic and preferred language use related to disability, please refer to the APA bias-free
language guidelines for writing about disability (APA, 2020b, 2022a). Other resources include the style guide from the

Listen

Create a Discipline-specific Padlet Portfolio

Create a discipline-specific Padlet (use this link for your individual Padlet dashboard) a portfolio to keep materials, resources and notes that are pertinent to your course and/or program. The intent is for you to use the Padlet for yourself and to share with your program/course colleagues.  Padlet lets you create up to 3 Padlets for free, but you'll only need one for this class. Please Submit Your Padlet Link Here by 2/8 (use this link to submit/review/engage with other's Padlets).

Rationale for using Padlet: 

• Padlet is a free and relatively easy ed tech platform. Also it is private or public- you choose
  

• A shareable place to organize course (and other) information for yourself, your facilitators, your colleagues, others in your work area, and your students
  

• Can be used for teaching and/or in a variety of non-teaching ways

•   A place where your colleagues (and classmates) can look and learn what types of information are important for you...it might provide a spark of inspiration : )
  

• A place to encourage communication - a tool through which  some sense of community is encouraged

• It can serve as a portfolio, provide a place to have students post journals, communicate with one another and even as an assessment tool

• As an example of a non-classroom way to use Padlet,  Megan plans to use it as a place to organize SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for her role in the CTE. 

How to create a Padlet 

•   Go to Padlet 

•   Click on Make a Padlet

•   Choose the "shelf" style/format (for ease of grading and sharing)
  

•   On the right side of the screen, follow the prompts for title, description, appearance, etc. These are all your choice about how you want it to look.

• In settings 

  • "Engagement" : click to enable comments (when making comments, please sign your name)

•   Then create 2 sections (they may be called posts or sections) with the following titles/names (we'll add more as the course goes on):

  • Diagnostic (where you will link your diagnostic later)
    

  • Important Notes (ideas: collect colleagues' padlet links)
    

•   To share your Padlet with your colleagues
  

  • Change visitor permissions to "Reader"

  • "Links" Copy the link and share in the discussion

  • Padlet Help

•  Please Submit Your Padlet Link Here by 2/8
  

Until we meet, this is all you need to do. We will talk about Padlets when we meet and you will be adding entries to your sections in your Padlet as we move through the course and you will be commenting on colleagues' Padlets as well - a wonderful opportunity to learn from each other. 

Evaluation Criteria 

A well-developed Padlet Includes a mix of resources from respective POE units as well as external (outside of the course materials) resources. The expectation is that the external source will work well in your discipline or area of work.

        * Units 1-3  = a minimum of three resources from POE course and a minimum of
           six external resources ( 2 per unit topic)

        * Units 4-6= a minimum of three resources from POE course and a minimum of six
           external resources

DUE DATES for Padlet Entries and "Padlet Takeaways Discussion"

DUE Thurs. 2/8: Creation of your Padlet ( total possible application points when finished=90 pts.) Please Submit Your Padlet Link Here by 2/8

DUE Thurs. 2/29: Your Padlet entries from Units 1-3 (3x15=45 pts./application)

DUE Thurs. 3/28: Your Padlet entries from Units 4-6 (3x15=45 pts./application)

DUE Mon. 4/1: D2L Discussion post with 3 takeaways from your colleagues' padlets (20 pts. /participation)

Additional Resources for the Padlet Portfolio Assignment NEW

• How to add Posts to Your Padlet (Padlet Help Article)
  

• Padlet Portfolio Assignment video 8 minutes
  If the embedded video does not play view the recording at this link

ORT discussions  and your action plan will require contemplation, which the following questions can facilitate: 

• Do you see aspects of UDL (universal design for learning) and Culturally Responsive teaching in the following materials?

• What have you already been doing related to Inclusive Pedagogical Engagement & Delivery?

• What aspects could you implement related to Inclusive Pedagogical Engagement & Delivery?

• What barriers or challenges might prevent you from implementing aspects of  Inclusive Pedagogical Engagement & Delivery?

ORT discussions, Padlet posts/comment sections, and your proposal and presentation will require contemplation, which the following questions can facilitate: 

• What have you already been doing regarding pedagogy of care and critical community?

• What could you implement to encourage pedagogy of care and critical community?

• What barriers or challenges might prevent you from implementing pedagogy of care and critical community?

Also see any edition of Tech Talk or the A&S Weekly Newsletter

From our very own Jeff!!

Inclusive Climates

An inclusive course climate welcomes and engages students from all backgrounds and encourages everyone to share their different perspectives. It allows students to fully participate in the classroom experience and assures that the course content itself attends to issues of student diversity. Examples of factors that contribute to inclusive classroom climates include:

• Avoiding scheduling exams or project presentations on any religious or cultural holiday.

• Encouraging regular participation from all students.

• Sharing resources that may be useful for students with different levels of accessibility or who have different financial resources, and integrating various levels of course assessment to account for different learning styles.

• Adding a statement to your syllabi.

• Incorporating a variety of different course content into your syllabi.

Exclusive Climates

An exclusive course climate is usually created by factors that inadvertently exclude or by making generalizations about certain groups of students, thereby elevating the voices of others. Examples of factors that contribute to exclusive classroom climates include:

• Scheduling exams or project presentations on religious or cultural holidays.

• Calling on, engaging, and validating specific genders, classes, or races of students while ignoring other students during class.

• Using incorrect terms to reference groups of people.

• Assigning projects that ignore learning and socioeconomic differences.

• Asking people with invisible disabilities to identify themselves in class.

• Not considering opportunities to incorporate course materials featuring people from diverse backgrounds into your syllabi.

Numerous resources on all aspects of the course!

https://padlet.com/lcccte/spring-2024-poe-padlets-y8udp9pi9q4q6xe6

Good explanation of challenges of online vs. face to face inclusion

https://padlet.com/lcccte/spring-2024-poe-padlets-y8udp9pi9q4q6xe6

Super helpful for all POE resources!!

What have you already been doing for DEI in assessment and evaluation?

What could you implement for DEI in assessment and evaluation?

What barriers or challenges might prevent you from implementing for DEI in assessment and evaluation?