Glossary of Terms

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General Glossary

The following glossary is from Cripping the Arts’ Access Guide.

Term	Description
Ableism	Ableism means intentional or unintentional prejudice against disabled people.
Activism	Activism is the creative process of making change in society and politics. Activism is led by groups of people who need change in order to create better living conditions for themselves and others. There are many kinds of activism, including rallies and protests, research and policy change work, writing and art-making, and even posting on social media about personal experiences in order to create awareness and change people’s perceptions.
Aesthetics	Aesthetics refers to our sense of what is beautiful, interesting, and fulfilling. Aesthetics also refers to how art makes you feel and how your sense of beauty influences what you create.
Audism	Audism refers to discrimination against D/deaf or hard of hearing people.
AODA	The AODA stands for the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. The AODA is a government organization that works to make sure that Ontario obeys standards of accessibility.
BIPOC	BIPOC is a short-form way of saying: “Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour.” (See “Disability Justice”.)
Chill-out space	A chill-out space is a quiet room or area where people can go to relax and take a break from an event.
Cis and cisgender	Cis and cisgender are words that people use to describe their gender identity as matching the sex assigned to them at birth.
Crip	When we crip, we “open up with desire for the ways that disability disrupts” (Kelly Fritsch).
Data	Data refers to information that is collected by people to understand something. Data can be used to represent or support ideas, to provide evidence, and to make social change.
D/deaf	“Deaf” with a capital ‘D’ refers to Deaf identity and culture. “deaf” with a lower-case ‘d’ refers to the experience of not hearing, or being hard-of-hearing.
Decolonization	Decolonization means working towards restoring freedom and self- determination of Indigenous peoples. It means respecting Indigenous people and their lived experiences, and moving away from ways of thinking that give white people (settlers) unjust rights and privilege over people of colour and Indigenous peoples.
Disability aesthetics	Disability aesthetics refers to the aesthetics of disability arts. Disability aesthetics invites us to think about disability as a desirable and celebrated way of being in the world.
Disability justice	Disability justice is a form of activism led by and for disabled Black, Indigenous and People of Colour. This form of activism focuses on experiences of disability and ableism from an intersectional perspective, which takes race, gender, sexuality, and class into account.
Elder	An Elder is an older Indigenous person who is recognized as a leader in their community. Elders may have different roles based on which communities/nations they belong to.
Interdependence	Two or more people or things that take care of one another in respectful and reciprocal ways.
Intersectionality	A word created by a scholar named Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe overlapping systems of oppression. It means that not everyone experiences disability or marginalization the same way. For example, some of us experience disability in a way that is impacted by our experience of race, gender, and sexuality.
Indigenous	The word indigenous refers to people, animals, plants and other things that originate naturally in a place. In terms of Indigenous people, we are referring to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis People, the First Peoples of this land.
Journalism	Journalism refers to the field of reporting current news and cultural events.
Keynote	A keynote is the feature talk at a symposium. A keynote speech usually addresses main themes or issues that tie the whole symposium together.
Mad	Mad is a word sometimes used by some of us who have experienced mental distress and/or use the mental health system.
Marginalize	Marginalize is a word that describes treating a person, group of people, or ideas as not important. When people are marginalized, their rights and ideas are not seen or heard as central or important.
Moderator	The moderator is a person who introduces speakers, keeps track of time, and organizes questions during a panel presentation.
Neurodiverse	Neurodiverse refers to the idea that people experience things in many different ways. Our bodies, our minds, and our nervous systems are varied and include all kinds of different responses to our environments. A person who is neurodiverse may experience different sensations and responses to the world. Autism and autistic ways of thinking are common examples of neurodiversity, though there are many other ways to be neurodiverse.
Non-binary	Non-binary is a term some people use to describe gender identities that do not fit into the traditional gender categories of male and female.
Panel	A panel is a small group of people who give presentations to the audience at a conference or symposium.
Panelist/speaker	A panelist or speaker is a person who is invited to give a presentation in front of an audience. They are usually an expert on the topic they are talking about, either through education, lived experience, or both.
Prejudice	Prejudice is when we have an idea about a person or a group of people that is not based on reason or actual lived experience.
Privilege	Privilege is a word that describes the benefits and advantages that a person receives because their position in society is understood as more important, valuable, or desirable than others. One example of having privilege is being thin. Thin people live in the world without encountering discrimination or exclusion based on their size that fat people experience, and with the feeling that public space was built with them in mind.
Pronouns	In community spaces, especially queer-positive and inclusive spaces, we often use pronouns as a way to share our gender identity with each other. For example, a non-binary person might have “they” as their pronoun (rather than “him” or “her”). Using a person’s correct pronouns is one important way to show respect for that person. Gender pronouns include she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs, and more.
Relaxed Performance	A Relaxed Performance is a type of theatre performance that has been adjusted to be accessible for people with sensitivity to lights, sounds, and unexpected events. Relaxed Performances are also accessible to people who wish to move around or make sound during a performance, or who wish to leave and come back.
Sanism	Sanism refers to discrimination against people with lived experience in mental healthcare systems or institutions.
Sector	Sector is a word that describes a section. When we talk about “the disability arts sector,” we mean arts and culture created by disabled people, as one part of a bigger social and cultural space.
Settler/Settler privilege	Settler is a word used by some people to acknowledge their relation to their ancestors who colonized Indigenous land. The phrase “settler privilege” is used to describe the ways that settlers (non-Indigenous people) today benefit from colonialism.
Spoonie/spoons	The term “spoonie” comes from a story created by Christine Miserandino. This story describes one’s capacity for day-to-day tasks based on how much pain and/or energy a person has. The amount of spoons a person has refers to the capacity they have on any given day, and depends on how they feel. Some of us who experience pain, fatigue, and/or chronic illness may call ourselves a spoonie as a way of telling others that we have to be careful to not use up all of our limited energy, or “spoons”.
Trajectory	Trajectory means a pathway or forward direction that something follows. When we talk about “Trajectories in Access,” we’re thinking about present and future ways we make the arts accessible, and how to create forward momentum with those ideas.
Trans and transgender	Trans and transgender are words that people use to describe their gender identity as being different from the traditional gender categories of male and female. A trans person’s gender identity may not match the sex assigned to them at birth.
Treaty	A treaty is a formal agreement between nations or countries. Historically and today, First Nations and Inuit leaders understand treaties as living agreements between nations that ensure the well-being of all people, beings, and the land. Colonial leaders have, historically and today, used treaties as agreements that ensure their continued access to power and control over land, animals, and people.
Turtle Island	Turtle Island is the original, pre-colonial name of the land that today we call North America. Turtle Island was and is still the name for the land used by Indigenous people and non-Indigenous allies who are working towards decolonization.
Two-spirit	Two-spirit is a word used by some Indigenous people to describe their gender, sexual, and spiritual identity that is different from colonial understandings of gender and sexuality.

Inclusive Language 

This table is from Access Activators: Relaxed Performance consulting document. 

General Terms

General Terms to Avoid	Terms that are Respectful and Positive
The handicapped The disabled	People with disabilities disabled people People living with a disability The disability community
Physically Challenged Intellectually Challenged	A person with a physical disability A person with an intellectual or developmental disability
Afflicted with… MS Suffers from… muscular dystrophy Lupus Sufferer Stricken with multiple disabilities Victim of… polio Invalid (the literal meaning of the word is not valid) Words like “stricken,” “afflicted,” and “victim,” imply helplessness and sensationalize a person’s disability	Person who has multiple sclerosis He has muscular dystrophy. Person with lupus Person with multiple disabilities A person who had polio Someone living with arthritis
Birth Defect Congenital Defect Deformity	Person with a disability from birth: e.g. He is blind from birth. She has a congenital disability. He has had a disability since birth. He was born with a disability. Person with a congenital disability
Disabled Parking Handicap Parking Handicapped bathroom stall, rooms Disabled seating	Accessible Parking Accessible Bathroom Accessible Rooms Accessible seating Seating for viewers in wheelchairs
Special needs Special “travel tours”	Adaptive needs Accommodations for individuals with disabilities Tours for people with disabilities
Is non-verbal	Communicates with a device or eyes A person who does not speak A person who has a speech disorder
A normal person, healthy This implies that a person with a disability is not normal, healthy	A person who is able-bodied A person who does not have a disability
The institutionalized The infirmed	People who live in a nursing home or long-term care facility

Mobility Disabilities

Mobility Disabilities – Terms to Avoid	Mobility Disabilities – Terms to Use
Confined to a wheelchair (Using a wheelchair or scooter provides independent mobility not confinement) Girl in a wheelchair Quadriplegic Paraplegic Spastic, Spaz	Wheelchair user; Person who uses a wheelchair or a scooter Refer to the girl by name Person who has quadriplegia She has paraplegia. Person who has cerebral palsy
Cripple Lame	Person who uses a mobility aid (e.g., crutches or a leg brace) Person who walks with a limp
Dwarf Midget Vertically challenged	Someone of short stature Little person
Epileptic Fits or Spells	Person with Epilepsy Person with a seizure disorder Seizures
Stutterer	Person who stutters

Visual Disabilities

Visual Disabilities – Terms to Avoid	Visual Disabilities – Terms to Use
The blind The blind writer The visually impaired He is visually impaired.	People who are blind The writer who is blind People with vision loss He is partially sighted. She has low vision. He has limited vision. She is visually restricted. People of varying visual abilities Many people have varying degrees of vision loss while others are blind

Hearing Disabilities

Hearing Disabilities – Terms to Avoid	Hearing Disabilities – Terms to Use
Deaf mute Deaf and dumb	A person who can neither hear nor speak The Deaf Deaf Person who is deaf A person who is medically deaf but who does not necessarily identify with the deaf community Deaf with capital D People who are medically deaf and identify as part of the Deaf community. Their preferred mode of communication is Sign language. Manual deaf, Signing deaf – A deaf person whose preferred mode of communication is Sign language Oral deaf – A deaf person whose preferred mode of communication is verbal and auditory and/or lip-reading, although they can sign Deafened – A person who becomes deaf, perhaps later in life
Hearing impaired	A person who is hard of hearing A person with hearing loss A person with partial hearing loss A person who is partially deaf
The deaf-blind The deaf-blind woman	People who are deaf and blind The woman who is deaf-blind

Intellectual or Learning Disabilities

Intellectual or Learning Disabilities – Terms to Avoid	Intellectual or Learning Disabilities – Terms to Use
Downs, Mongoloid, Mongolism	A person with Down Syndrome
Learning disabled Learning disordered	A person with a learning disability A person with a cognitive disability
Mentally retarded, Retarded, Retard Mentally Handicapped, Feeble Minded, Special Slow, Imbecile, Moron, Backward, Simple	Person with an intellectual disability Person with a developmental disability
Autistic	Person with autism A person with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Brain-Damaged Vegetative	A person with brain damage Person in a coma Person who is comatose Person who is non-responsive

Psychological or Emotional Disabilities

Psychological or Emotional Disabilities – Terms to Avoid

Psychological or Emotional Disabilities – Terms to Use

Mental, Mental patient Psychotic Unsound mind Insane Schizo, Schizophrenic Neurotic Psycho, Loonies Wacko Nuts Crazy Drives me nuts

A person with a mental health illness A person with a psychiatric disability A person with a psychosocial disability A person with a mental health disability A person with schizophrenia A person with a mood disorder (e.g., A person with bipolar disorder) A person with a personality disorder (e.g., A person with antisocial behavior) A person with an anxiety disorder (e.g., A person with an obsessive-compulsive disorder)

References – Access Guides and Documents

Thank you to all of these organizations for their excellent online resources for addressing existing gaps and confronting longstanding barriers to access and inclusion. This Practicing the Social website draws information from all of the following access guides:

• Access Activators: Relaxed Performance
• Canadian Association for Theatre Research
• Cripping the Arts
• Into the Light: Eugenics and Education in Southern Ontario
• Making Accessible Media – Humber College
• MSFOC: Midwest-Southern Fat Organizing Convening
• UofG’s Accessibility Conference
• Conducting accessible virtual events & meetings – X University in Toronto

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