22 Accessibility Rights & Ableism
Ableism: / Optional (Choose 2)
The Oxford Dictionary defines ableism as “discrimination in favor of able-bodied people.”
Consider how our systems and infrastructure is generally designed with the majority, able-bodied population at the forefront of the served demographic.
Then consider how those designs might be altered to include every body of every ability, including: people who are hard of hearing or deaf, people who are blind or near-sighted, people who are dyslexic, people who are mute or non-verbal, and/or people who use different modes of accessibility (e.g. wheelchairs, crutches, canes, walkers, prosthetics, etc.)
Watch this video to learn more about ableism and diverse abilities.
Watch this video to hear from multiple people’s testimonies about overcoming ableism.
Consider the accessibility of other basic necessities.
- How does our society exclude people based on ability?
- How is our society solving issues of accessibility?
Directions: Choose 2 articles to read.
Green, Jared. “Don’t Exclude: Ending Transportation Barriers for People with Disabilities.” The Dirt, dirt.asla.org, 11 Feb 2020.
IDEA. “A History of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.” sites.ed.gov, 2024. Accessed on 28 Jan. 2024.
Neal, D’Arcee. “Anti-Black Racism and Ableism in the Workplace.” Disability and Philanthropy Forum, disabilityphilanthropy.org.
Praslova, Ludmila N. “Autism Doesn’t Hold People Back at Work. Discrimination Does.” Harvard Business Review, 13 Dec. 2021.
Rajkumar, Shruti. “How to Talk about Disability Sensitively and Avoid Ableist Tropes.” NPR, 8 Aug. 2022.