Communicating with people with disabilities

From the Axis Center for Public Awareness of People with Disabilities in Columbus, Ohio, come these suggestions for communicating with people with disabilities. These items were published in ODA Today, the publication of the Ohio Dental Association.

1. Speak directly to a person with a disability rather than to a companion or sign language interpreter who may be present.
   
   
2. Offer to shake hands when introduced to a person with a disability. People with limited hand use or who wear an artificial limb can usually shake hands. Shaking hands with the left hand is acceptable.
   
   
3. Always identify yourself and others who may be with you when meeting a person with a visual impairment. Remember to identify the person to whom you are speaking when conversing in a group.
   
   
4. If you offer assistance, wait until the offer is accepted. Then listen to or ask for instructions.
   
   
5. Treat adults as adults. Address people who have disabilities by their first names only when extending that same familiarity to all others present.
   
   
6. Do not lean or hang on a person's wheelchair. The chair is part of the personal body space of the person who uses it.
   
   
7. Listen attentively when talking with a person who has difficulty speaking. Wait for the person to finish, rather than correcting or speaking for the person. If necessary, ask short questions that require short answers, a nod or a shake of the head. Never pretend to understand if you are having difficulty doing so. Instead, repeat what you have understood and allow the person to respond.
   
   
8. Place yourself at eye level in front of a person in a wheelchair or a person who uses crutches to make conversation easier.
   
   
9. To get the attention of a person who is hearing-impaired, tap the person on the shoulder or wave your hand. Look directly at the person and speak clearly, slowly and expressively to establish if the person can read your lips. For those who do lip-read, place yourself facing the light source and keep hands and food away from your mouth when speaking.
   
   
10. Relax. Don't be embarrassed if you happen to use accepted common expressions that seem to relate to the person's disability, such as "see you later" or "did you hear about this?"