Module 6: Systemic Oppression of Disabled People

This is the last module in Unit 3: What is Ableism?. In this module, you will learn about:

1. How ableism shows up in different spheres of society;
2. How disabled people respond to systemic oppression, particularly ableism, in public and private ways; and
3. How disabled people experience intersectionality.

One of the takeaways from this module is that disability is not a monolithic experience. In other words, there is no true single story of disability. Everyone experiences disability differently, including people who have the same diagnostic label.

Q1: Is identity-first language (IFL; disabled person) ableist? Or, is person-first language (PFL; person with a disability) ableist?

A1: It depends. Neither language convention is inherently ableist. However, both language conventions can be used in ableist ways. Words matter a lot, particularly identity words.

Before we answer the disability language convention question, let’s chat about pronouns, which might be more familiar to you. Are the pronouns he/him, she/her, they/them, or ze/hir inherently transphobic? No. But when someone tells you their pronouns are she/her, if you intentionally or unintentionally misgender the person by using he/him pronouns, that is transphobic.

Similarly, IFL and PFL are not inherently ableist, but they can be used in ableist ways. For example, I, Shaheen, identify as a blind person—not a person who is blind, not a visually impaired person, and not a person who has low vision. The only respectful way to refer to my disability identity is to use the word blind and IFL (e.g., Shaheen is blind). When people use other terminology (e.g., visually impaired) or PFL to refer to my disability they are (often unintentionally) being both disrespectful and ableist. Using the disability identity language a disabled person (or group of people) prefers shows respect and solidarity.

Furthermore, the professional writing standards that we follow in education offer similar advice. The American Psychological Association urges professionals to use the language that disabled people prefer.

Q2: How can I know whether a person prefers IFL or PFL?

A2: There are a few ways. Ladau recommends just asking. Some people may not have an answer to the question: do you use IFL or PFL? Not all disabled people have had a chance to learn about the two different language conventions. I tend to listen first before I ask. Most of the time, people will model the language they prefer. The other thing you can do is to be open to feedback. If you use the wrong convention, people may let you know. When you get that feedback, a good response is “thank you.”

Q3: How can I prevent ableism from happening?

A3: Well, there are many forms of ableism that you have little to no control over (e.g., other people’s actions). But you have a lot of control over your own thoughts, words and actions. So, we encourage you to start there. Everyone (including us) can work on being less ableist.

The most important first step is to really spend time reflecting on and getting good at noticing your implicit biases around disability. You have them, everyone does. When we are good at noticing our implicit biases, we can interrupt the influence our biases have on what we say and do (or don’t do). So get really curious about and familiar with your implicit biases. And, talk about them with people you trust.

The second thing to do is keep learning. Keep exploring different perspectives on disability and take advantage of opportunities to learn from disabled people.