What is Ableism?
An "ism" You Might Not Find in Your Dictionary
"Ableism", is a term often used to describe discrimination against people with disabilities in favor of people who are not seen as being disabled. That's easy enough.
Apparently we live in an "ableist society", an ableist Society treats abled bodied people as the standard of "normal living". This can lead to all sorts of problems for all sorts of people. The result is public and private places, education systems and social work, that are designed for people without too much disabilities. Which effectively cuts off the more disabled people from that society.
An "inclusionist society " on the other hand, does the exact opposite, and would be one where all products and services can be used by as many people as possible. Ableist societies tend towards isolation of disabled individuals, while inclusionist tend toward integration.
There appears to be a problem here, however. I n an ableist society who decides what counts as able bodied ? In an inclusionist society, who decides the meaning of, "as many people as possible?" What is the cut -off point? Is there a cut _off point ?
Even more confusing, is the fact that Ableism, is also called "Dis-ableism", in many parts of the world, it has yet to appear in most dictionaries, but is gaining in use as it is more talked about.
That seemed easy enough. Until I sat down to write this article.
In the UK one in seven people are considered disabled. That 's a lot of people to exclude from your society ! In the USA the number is higher, 20 percent. 54 million people. That's an awful lot of people to exclude !
Unfortunately, the term "Ablism", suffers from the same confusion as terms like Sexism, Racism and most other "isms". They are terms defined by the people the "-ism" descriminates against. With 54 million disabled people in the United States, and many others around the world, that's a lot of different definitions. While writing this article and trying to keep it objective, I ran into a lot of them. I'm still not sure wether the article in question was ableist or not, but I only know one way to find out. I'm going to submit it and ask, because often, asking is the people you are concerned about discriminating against, is the only real way to find out.
Published by Chitrani
Currently living as Human Servant to one very opinionated Redkitty she somehow finds time to write articles on the variety of odd subjects that make her her life, in between preparing Tuna and Salmon treats. View profile
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- "Ableism", is discrimination against people with disabilities.
- An ableist Society treats abled bodied people as the standard of "normal living".
- Ableism, is also called "Dis-ableism", in many parts of the world.
7 Comments
Post a CommentHi. I'm trying to get the word out to as many members of the disAbled community as possible that DOJ is changing the Americans with Disabilities Act effective March 15, 2011 to ban all service animals that are not dogs. This is extremely unfair to people with severe mobility issues who use monkeys as service animals, and Helping Hands is a wonderful organization that has been training these monkeys to assist folks with important tasks like eating, drinking, dressing, and face washing since the 1970's. Folks using miniature guide horses due to dog allergy or dog phobia will be able to be turned away at places of public accommodation. I'm trying to find as many people as possible to sign a petition to stop the change in the law, and here's the link to the petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/Save-Our-Service-Animals-non-disabled/
'Why should people with disabilities be given the same oppertunities as people who aren't disabled? '
Oh, idano, maybe because it's the law??
"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
I hope you recognize those words, since they're in section one of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution . . .
Why should people with disabilities be given the same oppertunities as people who aren't disabled?
p.s im not against disabled people or make fun of them, im just asking for my own knowledge =D
With new technology more and more lives can be saved. When disabled babies are born we are more likely to be able to save them now than ever before. This means that there are now more disabled people than ever before.
BOY THESE PEOPLE ARE FUCKED-UP IGNORANT AND FUCKED-UP HEARTLESS. BOY I PRAY TO GOD THAT I WISH THAT THESE PEOPLE WERE NEVER BEEN BORN. GOD PLEASE GET THIER HEAD STRAIGHT.
THERE IS NO GOOD REASON AS TO WHY SOMEONE WOULD WANT TO MAKE FUN OF A PERSON WHO IS PHISICALY CHALLENGED, I FIND NO FUN IN DOING THAT. I WONDER THOUGH, HOW COME ITS IN THIS RECENT CENTURY THAT MORE AND MORE WOMAN ARE GIVING BIRTH TO CHILDREN THAT ARE INCAPABLE?
I think making fun of these people is wrong. They are people just like us, they have feelings too. So, why should we treat them the way we don't want to be treated