Former Omaha Anchor Weighs In With Grammar Lesson

Former KMTV reporter Chris Egert was featured in Monday's edition of "Mrs. Bluezette's Grammar Yammar" on newsblues.com.

Egert writes to Mona Scott:

At a volunteer retreat for Easter Seals, I picked up a few tips on portraying people with disabilities that I thought people might find useful.

Avoid using "wheelchair bound" or "confined to a wheelchair."
Say uses a wheelchair.
(People can't generally sleep in a wheelchair.)

Handicapped" is a no no.
Use the word disability when referring to people with disabilities.
A disabling condition may or may not be handicapping.
For example, someone who uses a wheelchair has a physical disability. This person is handicapped when faced with a set of stairs when there is no ramp nearby.

Because people are not conditions, don't label individuals as "the disabled," "epileptics," "post-polios," or other names of conditions.
Refer, instead, to people with cerebral palsy or someone who has epilepsy.

Chris Egert, WFTV/WRDQ

Egert and his wife, Kate, both worked at KMTV until 2002. The couple have a nearly one-year-old son, Dakota.