Ableism

Ableism perpetuates a negative view of disability. It frames being nondisabled as the ideal and disability as a flaw or abnormality. It is a form of systemic oppression that affects people who identify as disabled, as well as anyone who others perceive to be disabled. Ableism can also indirectly affect caregivers.

As with other forms of oppression, people do not always know they are thinking or behaving in an ableist way. This is because people learn ableism from others, consciously or unconsciously. Bias that a person is unaware they have is known as implicit bias.

 

 

 

• Lack of compliance with disability rights laws 

• Segregating students with disabilities into separate schools

• Failing to incorporate accessibility into building design plans

• Buildings without braille on signs, elevator buttons, etc.

• Inaccessible websites

• The assumption that people with disabilities want or need to be ‘fixed’

• Using disability as a punchline, or mocking people with disabilities

• Refusing to provide reasonable accommodations

• The eugenics movement of the early 1900s

• The mass murder of disabled people in Nazi Germany

What are ablest micro-aggressions?
 

Many people don’t mean to be insulting, and a lot have good intentions, but even well-meant comments and actions can take a serious toll on their recipients.

 

Micro-aggressions are everyday verbal or behavioral expressions that communicate a negative slight or insult in relation to someone’s gender identity, race, sex, disability, etc. In the case of ableism:

 

• “That’s so lame.”

• “You are so retarded.”

• “That guy is crazy.”

• “You’re acting so bi-polar today.”

• “Are you off your meds?”

• “It’s like the blind leading the blind.”

• “My ideas fell on deaf ears.”

• “She’s such a psycho.”

• “I’m super OCD about how I clean my apartment.”

• “Can I pray for you?”

• “I don’t even think of you as disabled.”