Suggestions to Improve Positive Interactions:

• If the person appears to have little grasping ability, do not be afraid to try to shake hands.
  This is a traditional part of business etiquette, and signals that you are giving equal consideration. It is important to allow the person with a disability to guide you. He or she will have developed ways to handle almost all common social situations.

• Do not hold on to a person's wheelchair.
  It is part of the person's body space and is both inappropriate and dangerous.

• Talk directly to the person using a wheelchair, not to an attendant or third party.
  The person is not helpless or unable to talk.

• If conversation becomes protracted, consider sitting down in order to share eye level.
  This not only is more respectful, but it may be more comfortable for both parties.

• Avoid the following disabling terms:
  cripple, confined to a wheelchair, wheelchair bound, deformed, cord, quad, para. Use terms such as: person with (spinal cord injury, etc.), walks with (crutches, braces, etc.), wheelchair user.

VSA arts of Nevada Please direct questions and comments about VSA arts of Nevada to meh@vsan.reno.nv.us

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