Disability stereotyping

Newspapers are misrepresenting disabled people by using inaccurate stereotypes and outmoded language, according to Stop Press! a recent report by disability charity Scope.

The report analyses over 1,000 cuttings from national, regional and local newspapers, and its authors used focus groups and questionnaires to gather disabled people's opinions on them.

Although the report found some good practice, it nevertheless identified over 80 terms which disabled people find offensive, used on over 800 occasions. Scope spokesperson Liz Daone said: "We are calling on the press to question their practises, overturn stereotypes and act in their traditional role as a force for social reform."