Because I write about disability, a lot of journalists ask me about language.
First off, disabled is perfectly fine. My wife has a disability. We discourage awkward language such as differently-abled, special needs and physically-challenged.
Wheelchair-bound and confined to a wheelchair are pejorative phrases that should be eliminated from all reporting. My wife uses a wheelchair for mobility. Her assistive mobility device is a machine for liberation – not confinement – so any language that suggest it is confining is meant to further marginalize people with disabilities.
Driving a Toyota to a meeting 20 miles away is a wise use of mobility technology. So is using a wheelchair to get to a high level meeting with the mayor, instead of risking injury by walking with a major (my Heidi has rheumatoid arthritis) disability. No one in history has written that a Toyota driver is sedan-bound, so no article should negatively label my bride as wheelchair-bound.
