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Disability Etiquette

Seemingly insignificant details of behavior and language can be disconcerting to some students with disabilities, as they often imply inaccurate assumptions. We hope the following information is useful in your interactions with students with disabilities.

The photo shows a classroom with a female student sitting in a wheelchair.

Meeting Students in Wheelchairs

  • Do shake a person’s hand.
  • Don’t lean on the wheelchair
  • Avoid stiff necks! Try to get at a wheelchair user’s eye level, which means you might need to kneel down or sit down
  • Do offer assistance, wait until it is accepted, and provide the help in the way the person asks you to. And don’t be offended by a refusal
  • Students with disabilities are independent adults who are used to doing things for themselves
  • Don’t worry about making mistakes; just ask if you need information or clarification
  • Talk to the person with disabilities, not to their assistants

    • Meeting Students with Hearing or Speech Impairment

  • Repeat or rephrase questions/comments from the class before responding
  • Face the class and speak naturally, at a moderate pace
  • Avoid the temptation to pick up the pace when time is short
  • Do not speak while writing on the board
  • Lecture from the front of the room, not pacing around
  • Point out who is speaking during group discussions
  • Do not drink or chew gum while lecturing
  • Do not stand or sit in front of a window where shadows might impede speech/lip reading
  • Discuss privately any concerns about the student’s ability to hear
  • Provide classroom services (e.g., write announcements, assignments proper names, technical vocabulary, formulas, and unfamiliar/foreign names on the board)
  • Always use captioned films/videos or provide a written manuscript.
  • Arrange for the deaf/hard-of-hearing student to have a written copy of any orally administered test
  • Don’t shout at deaf or hard-of-hearing students; do position yourself in their vision, and attract their attention with a light touch or a wave if necessary
  • Be aware that deaf students may regard American Sign Language (which has a unique grammatical structure) as their first language, not English
  • Be patient with students with speech impairment; don’t correct them and don’t finish their sentences. If you don’t understand, don’t pretend that you do. Ask them to repeat what they have said if necessary, and tell them what you have understood so far

    • Meeting Students with Visual Impairments

  • Tell a visually impaired person who you are and introduce other students who are there, saying where they are in the space in reference to the individual
  • Don’t grab a person to guide them; let the student take your arm. Do ask the student if they wish to be warned about steps, doors, and other obstacles
  • Do say clearly where the visually impaired student’s seat is, or place their hand on back or arm of the chair
  • You may use a common saying like “see you tomorrow” with a visually impaired person
  • Remember that a visually impaired person may miss out on a gesture or facial expression and so appear to respond inappropriately; it may seem that the person does not get a joke, for example, when in fact it was not properly communicated to them

    • Organizing Events

  • Advertise the accessibility of the venue
  • Consider physical access and space, including seating and space for wheelchair users. Is there room for them to maneuver?
  • Engage a sign-language interpreter and determine the seating arrangement to augment signing
  • Produce literature in forms other than standard print e.g., large print, Braille, and electronic format
  • Ask persons fielding questions from the audience to repeat the question so that everybody has heard and the sign language interpreter may interpret the question

    • Working with Assistants

  • Always direct your question to the student and not the assistant
  • Be aware that students with disabilities employ, schedule, and manage personal assistants to provide them with a service. These individuals are employees of the student, not the student’s friends
  • Do look at the student when she is speaking to you, even if she is using an interpreter
  • Be aware that personal assistants, note-takers, and interpreters, though they don’t participate in the class, may sometimes inadvertently make comments or respond to questions. Take this participation good-naturedly, and continue to include the student with the disability in the class
  • Remember that note-takers are in the class only to take notes for the student when the student is present in the class. A note-taker is not a substitute for a student. If a student is not present in the class, the note-taker will not take notes and will leave after 10-15 minutes
  • Be aware that all support workers, including dogs, will need somewhere to sit and may need to go to the restroom or take a break
  • Do not touch, water, or feed guide or support dogs; they are working. These dogs are not pets
  • Show awareness that the work sign language interpreters do is very intense and requires focus and concentration. Any class more than an hour in length therefore will require two sign language interpreters to be present
  • Don’t make assumptions; remember that anybody may have a hidden impairment or a medical condition such as diabetes, asthma, emotional disability, or sickle cell anemia, to name a few

    • Always:

  • Treat students as individuals and put the emphasis on the person, not her disabilities (the principle of “person with a disability” instead of “a disabled person”)

    • Finally:

  • When in doubt, don’t hesitate to ask your students about their needs or what may be helpful to them. They are the experts!

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