Have you or your child experienced ableism? You may have but never even realized it. Learn what ableism is and how you can help to confront it in your own life and hopefully reduce or eliminate it from society in general.
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Ableism is defined as the practices and attitudes in society that devalue and limit the potential of persons with disabilities. It assigns lesser value to people who have developmental, emotional, physical or intellectual disabilities.
Ableism may be invisible to those who do not have disabilities. It is sometimes not intentional, but in certain circumstances, it is very intentional.
An ableist society is said to be one that treats non-disabled individuals as the standard of ‘normal living’, which results in public and private places and services, education, and social work that are built to serve ‘standard’ people, thereby excluding those with various disabilities.
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Self-advocates describe ableism
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“I believe much of ableism rests on the medical model of disability, in that we have first come to understand disability through the lens of a doctor- something is ‘wrong’ with this person and that ‘something’ needs to be fixed. This is how we are taught to think about disability. However, where we have interpreted the word “wrong” is where we have gone wrong. Just because something is different, does not mean it is bad.”
- Leah Smith
“I wish I could tell you the exact moment I realized that ableism was surrounding me, being directed at me, and I was participating in it by saying nothing. Instead, there were so many little moments and a few big moments – a journey – that finally shook me from my fear, my cowardice, and my shame. Because I was ashamed of myself, I’d been hiding who I am.”
- Susan Reynolds
“I define ableism as an everyday adversary who can and may defeat me multiple times a day. As a person with a physical disability, I recognize ableism is everywhere. It’s in every business, every school, in every movie where the casting director chooses to hire a non-disabled actor to play a disabled character, and it’s even in church.
In our society, there is no stone untouched by ableism and once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Hopefully you don’t ignore it; you point it out, and educate those around about it.
As advocates, it is our job to educate people about the struggles people with disabilities face; specifically we should all be discussing ableism as it is one of the most prominent struggles.”
- Jeiri Flores
“Not only are you trying to interface with a building or parking that’s not meant for you, you’re also then trying to break down the attitudes that people have.”
- Luticha Doucette
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“Always respect an individual person’s preference for identifying or describing themselves, even if that is not what the majority in a community prefers. Not every person with every disability is personally upset or hurt by every term on this list, even ones that reference their specific disability. That’s why this list is meant as a learning/awareness/consciousness tool, not a litmus test or a censorship guide.” — By Lydia Brown, autistic activist and blogger
Examples of ableist language
Blind to ____ / turn a blind eye to ____ / blinded by ignorance/bigotry/etc.
Refers to Blind, low-vision, or sight-limited people.
Confined to a wheelchair.
Refers to people with physical or mobility disabilities.
Deaf to ____ / turn a deaf ear to ____ / etc.
Refers to Deaf or hard of hearing people.
Suffers from ____.
Can refer to any person with a disability.
Examples of non-ableist language
For describing people with disabilities or disabled people in general:
- Disabled, has a disability
- With a chronic health condition
- Neuroatypical, neurodivergent
For describing people on the autism spectrum:
- Person/people on the autism/autistic spectrum
- Autistic person/people
- Person/people with autism
For describing people with intellectual disabilities:
- With an intellectual disability
- With a cognitive disability
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How inspiration porn promotes ableism
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Inspiration porn is when a disabled person is viewed as “inspirational,” “brave,” or “special” for achieving ordinary, everyday tasks. Inspiration porn is particularly evident on the Internet, where it takes the form of simplistic memes branded with absurd slogans like “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.”
Inspiration porn is a form of objectifying and Othering disabled people. It sends a signal that we do not deserve to live life like everyone else, so it’s cute or heartwarming when we do.
It also reinforces the myth that disabled people are eternal children. Even when they don’t realize it, nondisabled people often talk to disabled people as they would talk to children, in syrupy, high-pitched tones. If we’re adults, talk to us as though we’re adults. If you’re talking to a disabled child, make sure you’re talking to that child in the same way you would talk to a nondisabled child, regardless of their cognitive or verbal ability.
Presuming competence is the best thing you can do for a disabled person.
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Examples of ableism at work
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- Not being granted reasonable accommodations
- Being passed over for promotions simply because of a disability
- Being paid less than non-disabled employees
- Not understanding that boundaries need to be respected
- Not seeking consent of people with disabilities
- Being surprised that a person with a disability is hired
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How ableism is showing up during the COVID-19 outbreak
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“Only older adults are at risk for COVID-19”
This is one of the biggest misconceptions about what high risk looks like during the COVID-19 outbreak. There are many different populations who are most susceptible to the virus: infants, immunocompromised people, cancer survivors, patients recovering from surgery, and so on.
We’re ‘overreacting’ to the dangers of the virus
When the whispers about the novel coronavirus first started to spread to the United States, it was immunocompromised and disabled communities who started to worry first.
For us, every outing in a public place was already a health risk. Suddenly, there were reports of this deadly, highly transmittable virus that could pass from person to person. Our anxieties and fears started prickling like some sort of virus-detector superpower. We knew it was going to be bad.
Accommodations we’ve been asking for are suddenly, miraculously available
Once stay-at-home orders for schools, universities, and many places of employment became more common, the world started scrambling to accommodate for remote opportunities. Or maybe “scrambling” is a bit of a stretch. Turns out, it didn’t take too much strain or effort to transfer to remote learning and working. But people who have disabilities have been trying to get accommodations like these since we’ve had the technological ability to work and learn from home.
But at the same time… some virtual classes are still inaccessible
So much accessibility was clearly possible - however even with those things, accessibility for Deaf people isn't happening at the same level. All these online classes/meetings do not include captions and sign language interpreters.
Recommended coping strategies for COVID-19 that are actually ableist
“Just be positive! Don’t worry! Eat only healthy foods! Exercise daily! Get out and walk!”
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Ways to eliminate ableism
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- Think about your own attitudes and actions
- Become informed about disability issues. An excellent resource is Rooted in Rights www.rootedinrights.org
- Avoid assumptions
- Treat and speak to everyone in an age-appropriate way
- Treat everyone with respect and compassion
- Join an empowering organization such as SANYS (Self-Advocacy Association of New York State, Inc.) www.sanys.org
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