COMMUNICATION
It is the person not the disability that is important. Communicating with a person with a disability involves the same consideration that would be given to any other person, for example,
- looking at the person when speaking with them, making eye contact
- listening without interrupting
- checking that they have understood what you have said
- asking them to repeat if you have not understood
- say no
- respecting the person's right to ask for help
If you think that the person may like some help - offer and accept response given.
How we relate to a person with a disability is important. Referring to someone as a "victim" or "sufferer" or "courageous" is patronising. Similarly, with terms such as "AIDS sufferer", "polio victim", "confined to a wheelchair" or "wheelchair bound". While such terms may be used with the intention of appearing sympathetic, they are often experienced by the person with a disability as limiting or disempowering.
Speaking with exaggerated cheerfulness or in a loud voice as if to a child is also inappropriate.
Further resources on inclusive language.
PHYSICAL ACCESS
Another way to assist is to check your work environment for hazards to safety and unnecessary barriers to access. Sometimes minor changes can make an environment independently accessible to all who wish to use it.
CHECK
Indoor environments
- Is there wheelchair access?
- Do the lift doors snap shut like alligator's jaws?
- Is there a chair in the lift lobby?
- Are corridors free of clutter?
- Are doors heavy and/or hard to open?
- Are counters too high for people using wheelchairs?
- Are shelves accessible? If not, is someone always at hand to assist?
- Is there enough space for people to move around?
- Are there dark areas?
- Are there pillars or other obstacles in dark areas?
- Is there somewhere to sit down?
- Are there rugs on the floor that may slip, or slippery floors?
Outdoor environments
- Is there somewhere that's covered to sit and wait for a taxi?
- Are there overhanging branches near seating areas and over paths that could harm a blind person?
- Is the signage big enough and clear enough?
- Are there signs warning drivers against parking over gutter cuts for disability access on campus roads?
- Are there even surfaces on wheelchair access routes?
- Building and road works can be very dangerous - check that safety barriers protect someone with a vision impairment from danger whilst not impeding wheelchair access.
Further resources on Physical Access