Ableism and Why Inclusion is Important

Ableism at its simplest definition is the oppression of people with disabilities. The Center for Disability Rights defines it as, “a set of beliefs or practices that devalue and discriminate against people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities and often rests on the assumption that disabled people need to be ‘fixed’ in one form or the other”. This is a form of our culture that is so ingrained in everyday lives that most people do not even realize that they are excluding people who are not seen as “normal” by the general public. The Center for Disability Rights points out that ableism is usually executed by nondisabled people with good intentions and one of our biggest hinderances of viewing people who are different from our everyday expectations is that we view them as if we are doctors and that their disability needs to be fixed. 

An incredibly profound statement made by Leah Smith is, “The best way to de-root ableism in our everyday lives, is to ensure that there’s always a seat at the table for those who are like you and those who are not, but also checking ourselves on how we treat people with disabilities once they are at the table,” and represents how one of the biggest ways we can hold ourselves accountable is to welcome those around us with disabilities not as disabled people, but as people. Their disability does not overlap into them needing special treatment. To go even further, one also has to check themselves and the comments, interactions, and emotional responses that one could have when interacting with disabled people. It’s important to remain teachable! As educators we are teaching people to fit into society, but if you yourself refuse to acknowledge that a comment or two was potentially ableist then mistakes can continue to be made and can potentially damage or hinder a student’s self-growth.

“Negative cultural attitudes toward disability can undermine opportunities for all students to participate fully in school and society,” Thomas Hehir paints how the lack of inclusion in the classroom can hinder and damage students. Society doesn’t start once one graduates from high school and enters the real world, society and its impacts affect individuals from a very young age. In this section from a textbook on confronting ableism, two examples are given of how ableist view points damaged a young students growth. One student named Ricky was born deaf and his parents decided that it would be best for him to raise him to function “normally” which meant that he had to learn to read lips and was not taught ASL (American Sign Language). Ricky was not able to confidently understand what he was learning and struggled. Another student with dyslexia named Susan entered school with a bright imagination and vigor for learning but because she was constantly forced to read grade-level texts alongside her nondisabled peers at the same speed as them, she became frustrated. These examples show the worldwide view oppressed those with disability and caused them to not be accepted. Ricky’s parents did not encourage him to learn sign language and he learned how to read lips, but that can only go so far when you are in a bustling classroom with lots of little kids talking and teacher moving around not always looking towards you. Susan was forced to read material at a level that did not allow her to grow and encourage her to continue developing her reading abilities past her dyslexia. 

“Ableist assumptions become dysfunctional when the education and development services provided to disabled children focus on their disability to the exclusion of all else,” and perpetuate continued beliefs in young students that they are not moving towards seeing their disabilities as tools that are apart of themselves but as something that has to be overcome so that they can function into society. As educators the best way to approach special education and inclusion in general education classrooms is “minimizing the impact of disability and maximizing the opportunities for students with disabilities to participate in schooling and the community.” The Individuals with Disabilities Act protects students who fall under a specific set of standards and requires that all students must be given due process in regards to fair and specific procedures related to assessment, identification, and placement. Students who fall under IDEA are also protected by equal protection and states are required to provide the same rights and benefits to all students. IDEA also requires that there is zero rejection of a student regardless of the severity of disability and no child can be excluded from school. Free and public education (FAPE) says that students must be provided with an IEP (individual evaluation plan) that has a full range of appropriate direct and related services at no cost to the families. IDEA mandates that schools follow the least restrictive environment (LRE) clause that says students should be educated to maximum extent possible with their non-disabled peers and removed only when the curriculum and instruction can’t be adapted to achieve satisfactory results. IDEA also requires non-discriminatory assessment and ensures that biased identification and evaluation procedures in regards to identifying if a student has a disability. 

These things come together and allow us as educators to self-check and respond aptly to the ableist ideas that society has ingrained us to become used to. Our classrooms don’t have to feel like a reflection of our society, but of what we want society to become.

Works Cited:

Hehir, Thomas. “Confronting Ableism.” How Student Progress Monitoring Improves Instruction

- Educational Leadership, ASCD, 2007, www.ascd.org/publications/educational- leadership/feb07/vol64/num05/Confronting-Ableism.aspx.

Sensoy, Özlem, and Robin J. DiAngelo. Is Everyone Really Equal?: an Introduction to Key

Concepts in Social Justice Education. Teachers College Press, 2017.

Smith, Leah. “#Ableism.” Center for Disability Rights, cdrnys.org/blog/uncategorized/ableism/.

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