Ethics of interaction

Words or actions? While working on the Barrier-free Handbook, and in particular on the dictionary, we encountered questions along the lines of “what are the other ways to make a person feel respected, in addition to using the correct terminology?” or “what should you do if you think that a wheelchair user needs assistance, for example, in a public place?”. “How should we deal with a colleague who is feeling anxious?”. “Is it appropriate to give advice to the parents of a child with a disability?” On our social network pages, we asked our subscribers to write the questions that concerned them the most. In their responses, people shared that they did not know how to interact with people with various forms of disabilities. So, in this section, we will answer these questions, as well as give tips on how to interact with different people ethically and respectfully.