MANILA – A group is spearheading a campaign to let everybody know the proper way to communicate with persons with disability to lessen, if not eradicate the attitudinal biases and discriminating practices towards PWDs.

Mateo Lee, executive director of the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), said descriptions of persons with disabilities involves the way they are called and referred to.

"We are seeking some euphemistic approach from the society on the words they use when referring to or talking to us people with disability," Lee said.

Lee noted that PWDs are referred in speech and print as "disabled" but they prefer to be called "persons with disability."

Moreover, the terms "differently abled" and "physically or mentally challenged" should be avoided, and "person with a disability since birth" or just plain "person with disability" should be used, he said.

Lee, himself with vision impaired, said the "deaf" would just like to be referred to as merely persons who are deaf and not speech impaired, while for those blind (only for those who cannot see), they prefer to be called partially sighted, visually impaired, vision impaired or with low vision.

Lee said it is insulting for a PWD to be called "deaf and dumb or deaf mute, thus, "he should rather be called person with hearing impaired or hard hearing."

The NCDA also said that for the "mentally retarded," they should be referred to as PWD or with learning disability; for those called "cripple or crippled," they should be mentioned as "persons having physical disability."

The terms "dwarf," "mongoloid" and "vegetable" are not pleasant to the ear, so they want to hear the words "person of short stature," "person with down syndrome," and "person in a coma or comatose," respectively.

The NCDA also suggests the term "mental illness" instead of saying "lunatic," "insane," "mad" or "crazy" for person with such impairment.

Organizations of and for persons with disabilities around the world have recommended the foregoing words to use as basic guidelines whenever communicators refer to PWDs in the production of any communication products, be it in oral, written or in electronic form.

These helpful recommendations give more emphasis on "being a person" of the persons with disabilities rather than on their handicap, thus developing a friendlier society for them.*PNA