Ways to Help People with Disabilities

People with disabilities are people who have physical or mental impairments, so they often have difficulty in doing daily activities. ^{[1] X Research Resources} There are many ways you can help them. The easiest is to learn how to communicate with them, or volunteer and teach for free for people with disabilities.

Table of Contents

Build communication skills

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Learn the appropriate terminology. You need to use the right words when discussing with people with disabilities. Some words that were once considered the norm are now outdated and even offensive. The first step is to learn how to use the right words if you want to help people with disabilities.

When talking about people with disabilities, it is more polite to emphasize their person over special circumstances. For example, don’t say “a psychopath”, say “a mentally ill person”. Also don’t say “in a wheelchair”. Identifying them by another means means you can do that with any, but if you want to talk about a specific function of a wheelchair, you can say something like “person in a wheelchair” or “person in a wheelchair.” rolling”. ^{[2] X Trusted Source US Department of Labor Go to source} Keep in mind a few exceptions; many people who are deaf, blind, or autistic often use the local language, i.e. they prefer to be referred to as “autistic” or “deaf” (capitalize the letter K according to their rules) . ^{[3] X Trusted Source Austistic Self Advocacy Network Go to Source}^{[4] X Research Source}
Some of the right phrases are now outdated and even offensive. The word “dumb” used to be used to refer to someone who couldn’t speak, but now we often use the phrase “unable to speak” or “who must use a speech synthesizer”. The word polio used to be used to describe people with physical disabilities, with limited mobility, now we use the phrase more physically disabled. ^{[5] X Trusted Source US Department of Labor Go to Source}
The words “retarded” and “retarded” are derogatory words. We could substitute the phrase someone with an intellectual, developmental, or cognitive impairment. There used to be many people who used the word “disabled” but now it is no longer used because it seriously offends people with disabilities. ^{[6] X Trusted Source US Department of Labor Go to source}

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Communicate directly. Usually, people with disabilities are supported by interpreters, nurses, and friends on a daily basis. It is important when communicating with people with disabilities that you speak to them directly. Do not communicate indirectly through another person.

Look directly at the person, not their interpreter or assistant. Often, deaf people will observe their interpreter as the other person talks to understand the conversation. You should still look at the person you need to talk to, not the interpreter. ^{[7] X Research Sources}
If you talk to someone in a wheelchair, sit down so they don’t have to raise their head to look at you. ^{[8] X Research Source} It is not advisable to kneel like when talking to a child because this looks very odd.

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Ask before helping. If you come across a disabled person struggling with something, you instinctively jump in to help. However, if the person’s specific needs and intentions are not known, the act of helping is not necessarily appropriate. You should consult them before providing support.

Many times people with disabilities look like they are struggling, but they are perfectly fine. Just because it took them longer to do it, doesn’t mean they need your help. If you think they need help, you can ask directly. ^{[9] X Research Source}
If you come across someone struggling, you can ask, “Do you need help?” or “Do you need my help?” Don’t say anything more.
If the person refuses your help, don’t feel offended or rejected, just act normal. ^{[10] X Research Source} They know their own needs better than anyone, forcing them can be seen as rude.
Do not give medical advice, especially if you are not a doctor. Advising people with chronic pain to practice yoga may seem helpful, but they all have a doctor who knows their medical history and gives advice without being pretentious. ^{[11] X Research Source}

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Speak and behave respectfully. When interacting with people with disabilities, you must always show respect in your words and actions.

When introduced to people with disabilities, always ask for a handshake. Even people with limited hand movement can still manage. This is a polite gesture and gets their attention. ^{[12] X Trusted Source US Department of Labor Go to source}
Speak in your usual tone of voice. People often speak slower and louder than usual, especially when communicating with deaf people, but this is a rude and childish act. Communicate as usual. ^{[13] X Trusted Source US Department of Labor Go to source}
It’s normal to do something to make communication easier. For example, if you’re interacting with someone who is hard of hearing, look them straight in the eye so they can read your mouth and understand what you’re saying. Sitting down and making eye contact with someone in a wheelchair is a polite gesture. For someone who can’t speak, instead of pretending to understand what they’re saying, you can politely ask them to repeat it. ^{[14] X Trusted Source US Department of Labor Go to Source}
Be yourself in conversations. If you accidentally use casual communication, such as saying “see you soon” to the blind, don’t panic and apologize profusely. The person understands this is an intimate gesture and you don’t mean to offend them. ^{[15] X Trusted Source US Department of Labor Go to source}

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Make a question. We often worry that we will unintentionally offend people with disabilities, so we appear confused when communicating. This can be considered alienation for people with disabilities, so you have to be yourself and stay calm. If you have any questions, ask them if relevant to the current situation.

Often people with disabilities want you to politely ask them instead of just being confused. For example, you can absolutely ask a deaf person if they can read their mouth and you can see them face to face when talking. If you’re planning an event and the wheelchair ramp is at the back of the room, it’s perfectly OK to ask, “Do you know where the wheelchair ramp is? It’s a bit hard to find, I just wanted to make sure you know. place.”
People are often afraid to ask questions because they don’t want to attract the attention of people with disabilities. However, avoiding asking obvious questions is sometimes more attention-grabbing than asking directly. As long as the question is related to the current situation they will not consider it a curious or sensitive question. ^{[16] X Trusted Source US Department of Labor Go to source}

Volunteering

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Find volunteer opportunities in your area. You can find it in the community as there are many organizations that strive to assist people with disabilities.

Ability First is an organization that supports children and adults with disabilities through employment, recreation and social programming. Ability First has branches in many different countries and they all need volunteers. Depending on the path you choose, you may be able to work with people with disabilities in office jobs helping departments run programs and events smoothly. ^{[17] X Research Source}
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has a program called Teaching Tolerance, where the instructor and college and high school students discuss how to communicate to young people in a similar way. work with people with disabilities. You can visit the SPLC website to see if the program is available in your area and contact the team leader to see if they need volunteers to arrange, promote and run errands. ^{[18] X Research Sources}
The Disability Association (UDS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities to live more independently, including veterans and older adults. They help find homes, provide medical equipment, homemade wheelchairs, and service dogs. UDS recruits volunteers in a variety of fields, from office work to public relations and fundraising. The organization’s headquarters is located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania but they have branches everywhere. ^{[19] X Research Source}
You can find opportunities through organizations where you live. Call the hospital or nursing home to ask if they need volunteers or talk to carers with disabilities.
Some organizations like Autism Speaks ^{[20] X Sources of research} do more harm than good. So you should check carefully before joining any mass organizations.

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Fundraising and raising money. Sometimes fundraising is also helpful. People with disabilities need a lot of money to pay for medicines, home repairs, etc.

All of the above organizations conduct fundraisers periodically. Donating money, even a small amount, helps. You can encourage friends and relatives to donate money. If on a birthday, wedding or other big event that you receive a lot of gifts, try asking them to donate money instead of giving gifts.
If you know someone with a disability who needs money for a reason related to their disability, you can help them raise funds. You can organize an event, like a dinner or party, sell admission tickets and use that money to pay for the other person’s medicine. You can raise funds through an online campaign on the GoFundMe website. You can run a contest or draw a lottery, collect an exam fee or an entrance fee. There are many ways to raise funds to help people in need.
If you’re still in school, look for organizations that recruit college student fundraisers over the summer. You can find organizations that help people with disabilities, apply for a fundraising position. Thus, you can both help people with disabilities and gain professional experience.

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Help within your means. Often people with disabilities need a support person by their side. You can volunteer to help in this regard.

If people with disabilities are unable to drive on their own, you can help them navigate like a driver or help them catch public transport. Many volunteer organizations employ many people for this job.
Many organizations want the world to be more welcoming to people with disabilities who have mobility difficulties, they build wheelchair-friendly paths in public places. You can help by writing letters to the government, getting people’s signatures to work together to help people with disabilities move easily. ^{[21] X Trusted Source Kansas University Center for Community Health and Development Go to source}

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Volunteer to train service dogs. If you love dogs, participating in incident dog training is a great way to help people with disabilities.

Service dogs are dogs trained to assist people with physical or mental disabilities. Before being returned to their owners, they need to undergo special training and live with a volunteer owner until 18 months of age. ^{[22] X Research Source}
If you volunteer to raise a service dog, you must make sure to attend regular training sessions and train the dog at home. ^{[23] X Research Sources}
Service dog training is rewarding but also a difficult experience. You can hardly leave the dog once you are attached to it. You need to prepare mentally before accepting the task.
This is the right choice for college students. First of all, many college students want a pet but can’t keep it for a long time. Second, college is the best way for a dog to socialize as there are many activities going on on campus.

Transmission to others

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Take advantage of social networks. Since many people use social networks like Facebook and Twitter, raising awareness on them is quite easy.

Post links to articles about people with disabilities, communicating with people about physical and psychological disabilities. Don’t just share facts, provide links to articles on how to talk to people with disabilities and the benefits of helping and volunteering.
If you’re trying to raise funds or collect signatures, social media is a powerful tool. Posting a link to let people know where to donate or sign is the fastest and most convenient way to do it in your case.
Choose articles people can read on computers or phones. Usually, internet users often choose short articles, presented in a list style.

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Express opinions. If you see someone making offensive comments about people with disabilities, whether it was intentional or not, you should speak up.

Often people unfortunately use the wrong word. In that case, you should politely correct them. For example, if you heard someone say “she has a knife” you could correct it like “you should say ‘the girl has sciatica.'”
The words “retarded” and “retarded” are used a lot, even in the media, as terms to describe something unpleasant. People often defend their words and say they don’t “mean it”, you can explain to them that the word is offensive whether they mean it or not, and shouldn’t be used.
If you see discrimination against people with disabilities occurring in a work or school setting, report this behavior to the appropriate agency. If you don’t know who to report, you can contact a disability support organization and ask for advice.

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Point people in the right direction. Many people don’t mean to hurt or offend, they just don’t know how to interact with people with disabilities. If you find someone confused or confused, you can point them to a relevant website or organization to help them learn how to interact with people with disabilities. Education is a powerful tool in promoting social development and creating a friendlier, closer world.

Steps

Build communication skills

Volunteering

Transmission to others

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