Inclusive language

Some words that used to be common are now known to be hurtful or outdated. Dawn checks for the same list the Readability Guidelines use for writing about disability, age and gender.

Some examples it looks for:

• "wheelchair-bound" → "wheelchair user"
• "suffers from" → "has"
• "special needs child" → "child with SEND"
• "the elderly" → "older people"
• "he or she" → "they"

None of these are about being precious with language. They are about not putting a barrier between your words and the reader they are about, especially when that reader might be the parent or the young person themselves.

Dawn deliberately keeps this check separate from, and after, the words and sentences stage. Restructuring a paragraph does not change whether it should say "disabled people" instead of "the disabled", so this check stays useful whatever else changes around it.

📝 Search your Local Offer for "special needs". What would you replace it with, and does the answer change case by case?