Ableism and Disablism are forms of discrimination against people with disabilities, which can happen on individual and societal levels. Disabled people often face discrimination, which can be based on harmful beliefs and attitudes. According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), “disability continues to be the most often cited ground of discrimination under the Code in human rights claims made to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO)” (OHRC, 2018). 

Prejudicial beliefs and attitudes largely inform how disability and disabled individuals are perceived and treated. Broadly speaking, disability is construed as something that is abnormal and needs to be fixed. The social construction of what is ‘normal’ vs. what is ‘abnormal’ is informed by dominant views of disability that are ableist. As Davis (2006) explained, “the ‘problem’ is not the person with disabilities; the problem is the way that normalcy is constructed to create the ‘problem’ of the disabled person.”
 
Ableism
Ableism operates on the assumption that anyone who is disabled is somehow ‘less than’, meaning less important, less valued, and less worthy of the many privileges and rights non-disabled people are afforded. Ableism can involve stereotypes and generalizations of people with disabilities as well as the outright discrimination and exclusion of disabled people and communities. 
 
Ableism is the belief that disabled people are less valuable or important than non-disabled people. This belief can lead to the idea that disabled people should try to do things the same way as non-disabled people (Hehir, 2002). Ableism is also a set of beliefs that infer disabled people are inferior to non-disabled people and are treated unfairly in society and institutions (Annamma et al., 2013).
 
Ableism is a deeply entrenched form of discrimination that affects individuals, systems, and culture (Wolbring, 2008). It can be easy to see but can also be hidden. Ableism is shown through our beliefs, thoughts, attitudes, and actions. It played a role in the eugenics movement and can be seen in designs that are not accessible to disabled people. Ableism can also be the belief that disabled people are inspiring. Ableism can also be the belief that disabled people are inspiring. Sarah Young captures the heart of these ableist/inspiration tropes in her TEDTalk I’m not your Inspiration, thank you very much. Ableism is often hard to recognize and challenge because it is so ingrained in society. Even disability advocates may have a tough time pointing out ableism when they see it (Ladau, 2021).
 

 

Ableism is harmful and can lead to oppression. It is not simply about using certain words but that language becomes a tool of oppression (Brown, 2016). Ableism is when people with privilege disregard their privilege and deny the harm caused to disabled people (Palacsio, 2017). Marioa Palacios’ poem, Naming Ableism, captures much of what it is like to encounter Ableism daily. Ableism is when people with privilege disregard their privilege and deny how it can be harmful to disabled people (Palacsio, 2017). 

Disablism

Some scholars draw distinctions between ableism and another ism: Disablism. Disablism is the unequal treatment of people because of their actual or perceived disabilities (Kumari Campbell, 2019). It is connected to ableism, which values certain abilities and leads to discrimination against those who are seen as "less able." Able-bodied privilege refers to the unearned advantages that people without disabilities have (Kattari, 2015). Ableism and able-bodied privilege work together to create a system that discriminates against disabled people. Ableism and Disablism are forms of discrimination against people with disabilities. While they are similar, they focus on distinct aspects of this discrimination. It is important to understand the distinction between the two to work towards eliminating discrimination and promoting accessibility for disabled people.
 

Ableism/Disablism in Higher Education

Ableism in higher education disadvantages and discriminates against disabled students and staff. Ableist ideas and practices are present in all parts of educational institutions and need to be addressed. To eliminate ableism in these settings, we need to figure out where, how, and why it is ingrained in our norms and practices. 

Group of Disabled people of different backgrounds.

Disabled And Here: celebrating disabled Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC).

Ableism in Postsecondary Educational Practices

It's not surprising that ableist practices, which discriminate against people with disabilities, are considered normal in higher education. The education system is often designed with a specific type of learning in mind and reinforces certain ideas about what is "normal." As a result, people with disabilities are disadvantaged and excluded in educational settings through acts of ableism.

It is often thought that barriers and discrimination faced by people with disabilities are caused by the individual rather than being built into the foundations of higher education. For example, accessibility and disability services often focus on the individual requesting access rather than the larger barriers that prevent access (Gillies and Dupuis, 2013). These services often rely on medical language and diagnoses, which reinforces the idea that disability is a personal medical issue rather than a problem with the education system (Saltes, 2020). This individualized and medicalized approach to disability in higher education means that "disabled individuals do not always fit" (Waterfield, Began, & Weinberg, 2018). Additionally, accommodations, which are meant to make education more accessible, do not address the root causes of ableism and often require students to advocate for more inclusive options. By not recognizing the systemic nature of ableism in education, we put the burden on those who are already experiencing discrimination to fix the problem.

Ableism and Inaction

Ableist apologia is a term used by Dolmage (2017) to describe the belief that higher education is unfair to people with disabilities and that there is nothing that can be done about it. This belief is often expressed through statements or attitudes that try to distance the speaker from any responsibility for the way higher education unfairly favors certain students over others based on disability. These beliefs help to keep the unfair treatment of people with disabilities in place and make it harder to change the way education is offered. When it is said that something cannot change because "that's the way it's always been done" or "we can't offer certain resources because of XYZ," there is a lack of responsibility for trying to fix the unfair treatment of people with disabilities in education.

For an in-depth perspective, we strongly recommend reading Jay Timothy Dolmage’s Academic Ableism Disability and Higher Education that is available in open access.

REFERENCES

Annamma, S. A., Boele, A. L., Moore, B. A., & Klingner, J. (2013). Challenging the ideology of normal in schools. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 17(12), 1278–1294. 

Brown, L. X. Z. (2016, July 25). “Ableism Is Not ‘Bad Words.’ It’s Violence.” Autistic Hoya. https://www.autistichoya.com/2016/07/ableism-is-not-bad-words-its-viole…;

Brown, N., & Leigh, J. (2018). Ableism in academia: Where are the disabled and ill academics? Disability & Society, 33(6), 985-989. 

Dolmage, J. (2017). Academic ableism: Disability & Higher Education. University of Michigan Press. 

Gillies, J., & Dupuis, S. L. (2013). A framework for creating a campus culture of inclusion: A participatory action research approach. Annals of Leisure Research, 16(3), 193-211. 

Hehir, T. (2002). Eliminating ableism in education. Harvard Educational Review. 72(1). 

Kattari, S. K. (2015). Examining ableism in higher education through social dominance theory and social learning theory. Innovative Higher Education. 40, 375-386. 

Kumari Campbell, F. (2019). Contours of ableism: The production of disability and abledness. Palgrave Macmillan. 

Ladau, E. (2021). Demystifying disability: What to know, what to say, and how to be an ally. Ten Speed Press. 

Ontario Human Rights Commission (2018). Accessible education for students with disabilities. Government of Ontario. https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/news_centre/ohrc-releases-new-policy-and-reco…

Palacios M. G. (2017). "Naming Ableism". CripStory. https://cripstory.wordpress.com/2017/04/01/naming-ableism 

Saltes, N. (2020). Disability barriers in academia: An analysis of disability accommodation policies for faculty at Canadian universities. Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, 9(1). 

Waterfield, B., Beagan, B. B., & Weinberg, M. (2018) Disabled academics: A case study in Canadian universities. Disability & Society 33(3), 327-348. 

Wolbring, G. (2008) The Politics of Ableism. Society of International Development, 51(252-258). 

Acknowledgements: Some parts of this article were remixed from Ableism/Disablism and Ableism/Disablism in Postsecondary Teaching and Learning Contexts by Niagara College licensed under CC BY. Ableism/Disblism in Higher Education, by Irene Stewart, licensed by St. Clair College CC BY NC SA.