12/13/2020
Anna is amazing ! Very humbled to take these photos for her. Check out her post to learn more about a very engaging topic "What is ableism?"
♿️QUESTION TIME: "What is ableism?"
🌟A: Ableism suggests that non-disabled people are superior to a disabled individual. It is an act of discrimination and social prejudice against the disabled community. Most of us are taught by society that being disabled is bad, undesirable, and something that needs fixing. Some of the most common types of ableism include microaggressions, systemic, indirect, direct, and internalized.
✨Examples of ableism include:
-Inaccessible web designs
-The exclusion of disabled individuals from full/equal participation
-Lack of building accessibility
-Asking unsolicited questions to people with disabilities
-Speaking to a disabled person like they're children
✨Why is this important for you to know?
To quote , "Change will never come to our ableist society if disabled voices are the only ones demanding justice and asserting our right to an accessible world and an equal standard of dignity and humanity." Read that again.
✨What can you do to help TODAY?
-Point out barriers
-Do your research regarding ableism (this goes beyond what I have written)
-Consider some ableist thoughts that have run through your mind
-Educate others and bring it to their awareness
✨What has this looked like in my life?
Remember what I said up there about speaking to a disabled person like they’re children—Yup, experienced that. I hear the shift of tone when someone who is talking to an individual who’s standing, then speaks to me. It’s an unconscious switch that is completely apparent to me. This notion that being on a lower plane field as everyone else makes us less intelligent, less capable, or less equal in value.
Another example: Once, I had gone into a Nike Store to search for shoes that I could wear while walking in therapy. A worker had came to assist me and the words, "Oh, are you looking for shoes for fashion?" had me taken aback. This depicted that my intention of buying new shoes was to use them strictly for fashion purposes and rest on my footplate. I believe that the worker had no meaning for those words to cause harm, but I bring it to your attention because it is an example of the unconscious ableism that exists.
📸:Chancellor’s Promise
