Britain’s tourism board has advised tour guides to avoid using the term “able-bodied,” suggesting it is “harmful language” that should be replaced with “non-disabled”.
The recommendation appears in VisitBritain’s new “inclusive welcome” guide, which aims to eliminate “negative” language about disabled people.
The tourism quango has faced criticism for its language recommendations, which form part of broader guidance on how to discuss disabilities.
The guide urges tour operators to avoid terminology that “perpetuates harmful stereotypes” when referring to people with disabilities.
“What’s next? Non-blind instead of 20:20 vision? Non-deaf instead of perfect hearing?” said Lord Young, founder of the Free Speech Union, in response to the guidance.
The guide also recommends abandoning the word “dwarf” in favour of “someone with restricted growth or short stature.”
Tour guides told not to say ‘able-bodied’ as it ‘perpetuates harmful stereotypes’GETTYTour guides are instructed to avoid language that “suggests having access requirements is a negative thing and encourages pity”.
Terms such as “suffers from,” “is a victim of,” “handicapped,” “invalid,” “crippled by” or “wheelchair bound” should not be used, according to the guidance.
VisitBritain explains that such language “perpetuates harmful stereotypes and suggests that you know how a person feels about their impairment”.
The guide notes that some people view their impairment “very much as a positive thing that has enhanced their life and therefore are offended by such language”.
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Tour guides are instructed to avoid language that ‘suggests having access requirements is a negative thing and encourages pity’
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Lord Young sharply criticised VisitBritain’s recommendations about terminology for people with dwarfism.
“I’m astonished that this quango has advised people to refer to dwarfs as people with restricted growth,” he said.
He noted the irony in the guidance, stating he had previously been “admonished many times for suggesting that was the PC term for dwarfs and told that’s a Right-wing myth”.
“The correct term, apparently, is little people or, in the case of Disney’s remake of Snow White, magical people,” he added.
“This quango has literally become the caricature that free speech champions like me invented to discredit humourless woke scolds,” Lord Young concluded.
The guide advises tour operators to “resist the temptation to get defensive” if corrected about their language choices.
“When thinking about language, it’s important to be open to education,” the guidance states, noting that appropriate terminology changes frequently.
The document acknowledges that “disability-focused language” can be beneficial for search engine optimisation when attracting new customers.
VisitBritain joins other public bodies issuing similar guidance. The NHS recently advised staff against using the word “obese,” while Northern Ireland civil servants were told to avoid “millennials”.
Sutton Council has advised against using “Christian name,” while Staffordshire Police warned officers not to use terms like “man up,” “OAP” or “policeman”.
GB News has approached VisitBritain for comment