Kathleen RonayneVerified account

Today's lesson in Language Matters (and why journalists should always check the Stylebook): When writing about exceptions to @GavinNewsom's new mask order, I wrote that it does not apply to people who are "hearing impaired" 1/

I got that directly from the order, and so just went with it without checking what @AP's style was to describe people who are deaf. Several hours later, someone I know who is a trained interpreter reached out to tell me that term was problematic 2/

She said the term was offensive to many people who are deaf don't think of themselves as being impaired. She asked me if @AP had style guidance on it. Turns out, we do! 3/

Per @APStylebook: deaf: Describes a person with total or major hearing loss. For others, use partial hearing loss or partially deaf. Avoid using deaf-mute. Do not use deaf and dumb. Some object to the term hearing-impaired; try to determine an individual’s preference. 4/

I ended up changing the language to"people who are deaf or have hearing loss." I realize that may not be perfect, but I wanted to make the distinction between someone who is born deaf and someone who loses their hearing due to age or something else 5/