Ten Commandments of Communicating About People with Intellectual Disabilities

Conscious of the powerful role of the media, Special Olympics have developed language guidelines for journalists writing or speaking about people with intellectual disabilities (ID) to ensure that all people are portrayed with individuality and dignity. The purpose of this guide it to be a practical, handy guide for journalists to raise awareness of intellectual disability among journalists and to promote respect, acceptance, inclusion, and human dignity for people with intellectual disabilities.

The guidelines outlined in the guide are:

• Refer to individuals, persons or people with intellectual disabilities, rather than "intellectually disabled people" or "the intellectually disabled".
• Take caution not to perceive people with intellectual disabilities as "eternal kids", dependent people, irresponsible, immature.
• Do depict people with intellectual disabilities interacting with others with and without intellectual disabilities.
• Offer balance. Portray people with intellectual disabilities in positive relationships with their families and care assistants.
• Consider showing people with intellectual disabilities living in society, participating in every facet of life – at home, at work, shopping in the mall, hanging out with friends at coffee shops, simply being part of the population.
• Give opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to talk about their everyday needs, their jobs, their pastimes, and passions.
• Move the focus from parents of people with intellectual disability to the person itself. By focusing on parents, people with intellectual disabilities are placed in secondary position and deprived of their own individuality.
• Demonstrate that people with intellectual disabilities are NOT sick, CANNOT infect others.
• Do not use the adjective "unfortunate" when talking about persons with an intellectual disability. Disabling conditions do not have to be life-defining in a negative way.
• Above all, speak and write about people with intellectual disabilities in the media.