Editorial Style Tips

As we observe Disabilities Awareness Month in March, this week’s style tip addresses the terms disabilities and disabled. When writing stories about this topic, use extra care and sensitivity, considering the impact, primacy and power of the specific words and terms by the people you are writing about.
The Purdue Editorial Style Guide added a “disabilities” entry in November 2022, mainly because of how often questions now come up about this subject in our internal and external communications and marketing efforts. The AP Stylebook also has an extensive “disabilities” entry, covering such matters as the types of cliches and broad generalizations to avoid and offering a host of helpful examples.