Disabilism

Despite the widespread adoption of national and international policies banning disability discrimination, people with disabilities still experience various forms of disability discrimination known as disablism. While disablism is pervasive, the concept of disablism is less familiar among the mainstream audiences than similar concepts like racism and sexism. The profession of social work, with its core value of social justice, has an important role to play in reducing disablism in society. However, the social work profession has its own history of institutional disablism related to the medical model orientation to service provision. The profession of social work can begin to address disablism through focusing on increasing disability awareness within the profession, adopting an anti-oppressive practice approach, and embracing innovative social-service innovations that reduce disablism, such as self-directed supports, person-centered planning, and universal design.