What’s the Right Word for Someone Who Had Polio?

Question: I usually call myself a ‘polio-survivor.’ I’ve heard some people say ‘polios’ and others say ‘living with the after effects of polio.’ Some say ‘I’m handicapped’ and others say ‘I’m disabled.’ Are these all acceptable, or am I accidently insulting someone if I use the wrong language?

Response from Rhoda Olkin, PhD: Such a great question because words convey concepts. They also may convey a political stance or a value judgment. For example, think of these words: girls, ladies, broads, females, women—these
all mean essentially the same thing but would be received very differently. Words related to disabilities, including polio, likewise carry meanings beyond the words themselves.

Let’s go through some language. First up is ‘polios.’ I personally dislike this term as it reduces us to a single factor and feels not that much different than saying ‘cripples’ (a once regularly-used term that is now considered highly derogatory). ‘Polio survivors’ is better as it conveys resilience and life after polio, but it still is a single demographic devoid of context. ‘A person living with the after-effects of polio’ is a wordier version of polio survivor. ‘A person who had polio’ starts to suggest that the person has other things about them besides polio. I don’t think any of these are wrong and within polio circles would be well received.

Another language issue is whether we ‘polio survivors’ consider ourselves part of a larger group of people with other types of disabilities. For about 20 years, ‘people first’ language was encouraged: ‘a person with polio’ or ‘a person with a disability.’ In this language, the person was central, and the polio or disability was one thing the person ‘had’ (not ‘is’). Recently within the disability community, there has been a move towards ‘identity first’ language: a disabled person. This connotes disability as an essential part of identity, disability pride, and affiliation with the disability community.

What are the differences among these terms: handicap, impairment and disability? The World Health Organization distinguishes these terms as follows:

Impairment: This term is used by professionals to identify some disruption at the system level of an organ in the body, like the brain or the left leg, that leads to loss of use or some variation from a norm. Impairments are not defects and they can be psychological, physiological or anatomical; some are permanent, others are temporary. Impairments can lead to disruptions in thinking, emotion or behavior.

Handicap: A handicap is an obstacle that affects people because, once present in their environment, it blocks them from completing some role. Thus, a disabled person can be handicapped—that is, disadvantaged—by a missing ramp, but the handicap does not reside within the person.

Disability: “Disability results from the interaction between individuals with a health condition such as cerebral palsy, down syndrome and depression as well as personal and environmental factors including negative attitudes, inaccessible transportation and public buildings, and limited social support.” As such, disability is not a feature of the person but of the interaction of the person and the contextual variables (e.g., attitudes, built environments, economic policies). Whichever language you use, it needs to feel right to you and nobody else but you. The way in which polio played a part in your life may lead you to feel more comfortable with one phrase over another, and that is okay. (Rhoda Olkin describes herself as a polio survivor, a disabled person and a disability rights activist.)

Post-Polio Health (Vol. 37, No. 3, Summer 2021)