Etiquette for Use with People Who Have Mobility Impairments

When you are with a person who has a mobility impairment:

Look at and talk directly to everyone with whom we converse.
Be at eye level with everyone with whom we speak, if possible.
Ask how we can best help when assisting a wheelchair user to go up or down a curb.
Move crutches, walkers, canes, or wheelchairs only with the permission of the user. Return the devices as soon as possible.
Ask if and how we can help in buffet lines.
Respect everyone's individual space. Do not lean on someone's wheelchair.
Allow children to ask questions and allow the person being questioned to answer.
Ask "May I help?" when wanting to be helpful. And if given permission to do so, ask "How may I help?" Unsolicited assistance is rude and intrusive.
People who use wheelchairs are "wheelchair users", not "confined to a wheelchair".
Grasp the push handles tightly so that the chair does not go too fast when helping to guide a wheelchair user down an incline,
When assisting a wheelchair user go up or down more than one step tilt the wheelchair back at all times while descending or ascending the stairs.
Learn the location of wheelchair-accessible ramps, rest rooms, elevators, doors, water fountains, and telephones.
Relax and smile! Very few people (even those with mobility impairments) bite! (That's a joke.) Everyone responds to a smile and a warm "hello".

For more information contact access @ uua.org.

This work is made possible by the generosity of individual donors and congregations. Please consider making a donation today.

Last updated on Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

Section Navigation

Learn more about the Beliefs & Principles of Unitarian Universalism, or read our online magazine, UU World, for features on today's Unitarian Universalists. Visit an online UU church, or find a congregation near you.