A person is not handicapped.  A person is not disabled.  A person has a disability.

A handicap has been defined as an obstacle which society imposes on a person with a disability.  The origin of the word handicap comes from an old Gaelic term which referred to a person with a disability who had to stand on the street corner begging with his “cap in hand”.  Handicapped is not a term to describe human beings.  People First Language seeks to put the person first and the disability second.  People with disabilities are people, first and foremost.

Labels not to use	People First Language
The handicapped or the disabled	People with disabilities
The mentally retarded or he’s retarded	People with mental retardation or he has a cognitive impairment
My student is autistic	My student has autism
She’s a Down’s baby	She has Down Syndrome
Birth Defect	Has a congenital disability
Epileptic	A person with epilepsy
Wheelchair bound or confined to a wheelchair	Uses a wheelchair or a mobility chair or is a wheelchair user
She is developmentally delayed	She has a developmental delay
He’s crippled or lame	He has an orthopedic disability
Is learning disabled or is a LD kid	Has a learning disability
Afflicted with, suffers from, victim of	A person who has…
She’s emotionally disturbed or crazy	She has an emotional disability
Normal and/or healthy	A person without a disability
Quadriplegic, paraplegic, etc.	He has a spinal cord injury, quadriplegia, paraplegia, etc.
She’s in Special Education	She receives Special Education services
Handicapped parking	Accessible parking