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Encouraging Positive Interactions
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Treat all person with respect. Call a person by his or her first name only when you’re extending their familiarity to everyone present.
- Offer assistance to a person if you feel like it, but wait until your offer is accepted before you help, and listen to any instructions the person may want to give about the best way to assist them.
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When talking with someone who has a disability, speak directly to that person rather that through a companion who may be with them.
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Be considerate of the extra time it may take for a person with a disability to get things done or said. Let the person set the pace.
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When conversing at length with a person in a wheelchair, sit or place yourself at that person’s eye level, but do not kneel.
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Relax. Don’t be embarrassed if you happen to use accepted comment expressions, such as “See you later” or “Got to be running along” that seem to relate to the person’s disability.
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Take the time necessary to assure clear understanding. Use simpler words and add gestures while you talk. Use precise language and try to employ words that relate to things you both can see. You may need to write down information or draw a simple picture.
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Be prepared to give the person the same information more that once in different ways.
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