Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior. Ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require ‘fixing’ or ‘curing,’ and does not see disability as a valued aspect of diversity. Talila “TL” Lewis shares this definition of ableism: “A system that places value on people’s bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normality, intelligence, excellence, desirability, and productivity. These constructed ideas are deeply rooted in anti-Blackness, eugenics, misogyny, colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism. This form of systemic oppression leads to people and society determining who is valuable and worthy based on a person’s language, appearance, religion and/or their ability to satisfactorily [re]produce, excel and ‘behave.’ You do not have to be disabled to experience ableism.”

Lewis, L. T. (2021). A working definition of ableism. https://www.talilalewis.com/blog/january-2021-working-definition-of-ableism

While some people in the disability community prefer to use person-first language (e.g., “people with disabilities”), others prefer identity-first language (e.g., “disabled people”). Identity-first language puts the disability first in the description and is commonly used by many disabled self-advocates because they identify disability as part of their identity.  How a person chooses to self-identify is their choice and should always be respected. For more information on Identity-first language visit the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network website.

Disability justice is a political framework that was created in 2005 by a group of disabled, trans, and queer people of color including Patty Berne, Leroy Moore, Mia Mingus, Eli Clare, and Sebastian Margaret. In What is Disability Justice?, founder and Executive Artistic Director of Sins Invalid, Patty Berne, explains that Disability Justice emerged as a critique of the broader Disability Rights Movement that historically  “invisibilized the lives of people who experience overlapping systems of oppression – disabled people of color, immigrants with disabilities, queers with disabilities, trans and gender non-conforming people with disabilities, people with disabilities who are houseless, people with disabilities who are incarcerated, people with disabilities who have had their ancestral lands stolen, amongst others.”

The social model of disability promotes the idea that a person isn’t disabled because of their disability, health condition, or ways in which their body-minds don’t fit society’s norms. Rather, the social model promotes the idea that it is society’s physical, environmental, attitudinal, and digital barriers that exclude people with disabilities. To learn more, visit the UCSF Office of Developmental Primary Care resources on the Medical and Social Models of Disability.