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The Anti-Ableist Manifesto: Smashing Stereotypes, Forging Change, and Building a Disability-Inclusive World - Tiffany A. Yu

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Inspired by the viral The Anti-Ableism Series on TikTok, The Anti-Ableist Manifesto is Diversability founder Tiffany Yu's revelatory examination of disability for any ally to go beyond mere awareness to be an active anti-ableist and help form a more equitable society for all.

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College of Education and Human Development, Institute on Disabilities

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In 2019, the Disability Rights Movement history timeline pictured below was installed outdoors at Philadelphia's City Hall Courtyard and indoors at th...

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What is the direct impact that disability studies has on the lives of disabled people today? The editors and contributors to this essential anthology, Barriers and Belonging, provide thirty-seven personal narratives thatexplore what it means to be disabled and why the field of disability studies matters.

The editors frame the volume by introducing foundational themes of disability studies. They provide a context of how institutions-including the family, schools, government, and disability peer organizations-shape and transform ideas about disability. They explore how disability informs personal identity, interpersonal and community relationships, and political commitments. In addition, there are heartfelt reflections on living with mobility disabilities, blindness, deafness, pain, autism, psychological disabilities, and other issues. Other essays articulate activist and pride orientations toward disability, demonstrating the importance of reframing traditional narratives of sorrow and medicalization.

The critical, self-reflective essays in Barriers and Belonging provide unique insights into the range and complexity of disability experience.

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What is the direct impact that disability studies has on the lives of disabled people today? The editors and contributors to this essential anthology, Barriers and Belonging, provide thirty-seven personal narratives thatexplore what it means to be disabled and why the field of disability studies matters.

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People Living With Disabilities Review Characters With Disabilities

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Common Portrayals of Persons with Disabilities

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Part of stereotyping is the attitude that all members of a particular group are the same, or else fall into a very small number of types. This is particularly true in the few cases where persons with a disability appear in media

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The media has a long track record of using stereotypes to portray people with disabilities. These stereotypes can be negative or positive - but either way, they're rarely accurate.
Although these days we're seeing more realistic portrayals of people with a disability in the media, stereotypes are still all too common.

We say, let's move away from these stereotypes and instead represent people with disabilities as three-dimensional people, not caricatures. Let's see more roles, particularly leading roles, played by someone with a disability.

The sad fact is, only 3.1% of actors on TV (and we would assume other media too) have a disability ( GLAAD). There's no reason that people with disabilities shouldn't be represented in all forms of media - from acting to modelling.

So what are some of the more common stereotypes that get thrown around? Here are a few you may recognise...

Stereotype #1: The villain

Throughout history, books and films have drawn strong links between disabilities and evil or depravity. There are countless examples of 'baddies' with disabilities: from Captain Hook, to Shakespeare's Richard III, to many of James Bond's arch-enemies (watch the video above).

It's also not uncommon for the villain to have a mental illness, along with as a particular tendency towards violent crime. One of the media's most notorious villains for instance, the Joker (most recently portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix in 'Joker'), is said to have schizophrenia. Read our Myths about schizophrenia article which debunks the link between schizophrenia and violence.

This stereotype may have been driven by a historical unfamiliarity about people with disabilities, but whatever the reason, it's certainly not a healthy or helpful trend.

Stereotype #2: The superhero

On the flipside, there's the superhero: an inspirational character who is actually seen to be extraordinary or heroic just because of their disability.

News stories and online memes are big culprits of this stereotype, where a person with a disability is glorified. Many people with disabilities are just as capable as everyone else, and don't need gushing praise for simply living their lives.

Then there's the 'disability superpower', where fate has removed one ability, but in turn enhanced another. The hero in 'Daredevil', for instance, is blinded by a radioactive substance, and while he can no longer see, his other senses are heightened giving him 'radar sense'.

While these might seem more positive stereotypes than some others, they're still not accurate - and can be more than a little patronising.

Stereotype #3: The victim

Another common scenario is where a person is seen as pitiful or helpless, just because they have a disability.

There are too many examples of this stereotype to list, but a few include Quasimodo in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', John Merrick in 'The Elephant Man', Tiny Tim in Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol', and even news reports which describe people as 'victims' or 'sufferers'.

In all these cases, a character's disability (often combined with a particularly endearing personality) is used to gain sympathy from the audience - rather than genuine compassion. This is certainly an example of focusing on the disability, not the person.

Stereotype #4: The butt of the joke

Making a mockery of people's differences is cowardly at best, and disturbingly common. Unfortunately, many films and TV shows use it as a way to get cheap laughs - from Mary's brother Warren in 'There's Something About Mary', to Ken's stutter in 'A Fish Called Wanda'. Even former US president Barack Obama made a cringe-worthy joke about bowling in the Special Olympics (which he later apologised for).

Modern-day TV 'documentaries' such as 'Embarrassing Bodies', poke fun at or ridicule disability or medical conditions for entertainment value. People with disabilities have also long been ridiculed in comedy shows too - with the R-word being used much too often.

On a lighter note, though, some comedians who actually have disabilities are now redressing the balance - using their performances to poke fun at themselves and raise awareness about disabilities in a humorous but respectful way (Adam Hills, Josh Blue and Alex Brooker are a few examples).

Stereotype #5: Eternally innocent

In many films, characters are depicted as being angelic or childlike, simply because they have a disability. 'Forrest Gump', 'I am Sam', and 'Rain Man' are all great examples of such movies.

Often the naïve and sweet character with a disability, reveals the flaws of their 'normal' adult peers - leading to them finding redemption.

Like all the other stereotypes, this one is harmful mainly because it's inaccurate - and reinforces patronising perceptions that are simply not true.

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Disability stereotypes in the media | Aruma

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The media has a long track record of using stereotypes to portray people with disabilities. These stereotypes can be negative or positive - but either way, they're rarely accurate. Although these days we're seeing more realistic portrayals of people with a disability in the media, stereotypes are still all too common.

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This is the start of a series of posts by community activist, freelance trainer and former DM team member, Nim Ralph, about how we understand disability and the way that shapes the experiences of disabled people. This post introduces the whole topic and the rest of the series explores each model in detail:
You can read the quick summary below, or scroll further for a more in-depth discussion.
A quick summary...

People are scared to talk about disability, often because deep down they are scared of disability.

I find people do want to get it right - and that's important. But, when what's at stake is people's wellbeing, sometimes intention isn't enough. Therefore, supporting people to feel more resourced and empowered to talk about disability is important in combating the negative impacts on disabled people.

One of the biggest hurdles to achieving this is that, in talking about disability, people often get stuck on finding the "right language". However, there isn't 100% fixed, agreed or rubber-stamped good language.

In actual fact, more important than always having the right language is understanding why you might choose one word or another.

The rest of this blog series will talk through the construction of different Models of Disability. A Model is a framework from which disability is understood in society. By understanding the models and how they have historically and culturally impacted each other, you'll be better resourced to understand why disability is talked about in the language and ways it is.

In more depth...

Many people are scared to talk about disability.

They don't know where to begin.

This anxiety is often attached to being scared they'll use the wrong language or "get it wrong".

The 'Wrong' Language

There are three key reasons we fear using the wrong language:

1. We are afraid we will hurt the feelings of the person we are talking to or about

2. We are scared that it will show up how little we know of someone else's experience, or our internal biases to their experience like pity, fear or confusion.

3. We are afraid of what we don't understand.

Deep down, I believe, this anxiety generates from society-wide fear of disability itself. That's something I hope to unpack and address in this blog series.

I believe that to overcome our fears, we must confront them - and I want to help you do just that.

I want to help you not because I have some spare time kicking around, but because I think it will lead to a manifest improvement in the lives of disabled people around you.

A lot of the social exclusion and inequalities that disabled people face are generated from non-disabled people not understanding our experiences and being scared to talk about it with us.

To be clear, I believe that this fear often comes from a desire to get it right. However, we must sometimes understand that intention isn't as important as outcomes.

A world constructed without consideration of disabled people's experiences and requirements is one that will negatively impact on disabled people.

It means services aren't designed to meet our needs, events aren't made accessible for us, employers are scared to hire us, and strangers and even our friends are more likely to avoid engaging with us.

Given all that, it's no wonder disabled people are more likely to experience isolation, limited opportunities in education and work and lack of access to services - all factors that lead to higher rates of poverty, mental health problems and social exclusion.
This means that disabled people are more likely to live in poverty, to hold fewer qualifications and to be unemployed.
To be clear, this isn't to say that disabled people's lives are inherently lacking or miserable - but only seeing disabled lives in terms of the barriers we face can lead to two-dimensional views of disabled people as pitiful or tragic. Disabled people can and do live fulfilling lives in a plethora of ways, just as non-disabled people do.

This duality is important because, in my experience, non-disabled people feel awkward talking about disability and the impact it creates lest they misunderstand, make a mistake, generalise too much or don't show the right sort of empathy.

While it's hard to prove a link between the ability of people to talk about or to disabled people and the resultant social barriers we face - it's clear to me that creating more conversation about and between disabled and non-disabled people can only lead to a better experience for disabled people.

And to create a conversation, we need to start with shared language.

Shared Language

One of the most immediate questions people have when they talk to Drake Music about understanding disability is what language is the "right" language they should be using. Language is important - and it's also ever-changing, iterative and responsive and responding to social and political contexts.

Even today, Disabled people use differing vocabularies to refer to themselves, and which words are most empowering is constantly up for debate.

At Drake Music, we are regularly having debates about which language we use as part of our organisational position on disability rights, and there isn't always agreement.

The way each of us comes to the conversation is often a result of the theories and experiences of disability that we've been exposed to in the world. Which also means that as the social and political world changes around us, so does the language and theories we ascribe to.

And so, I thought that a useful point of departure to develop understanding about shared language in the pursuit of disability justice is to take you through a whirlwind tour of some of the major schools of thought on disability that have shaped the language we use, as well as an explanation of the current disability justice landscape in the Western world.

Because, while there are certainly phrases and words that I am happy to explain to people, I observe that they are often either (a) easily forgotten or (b) used dogmatically even when attitudes and behaviours underlying their purpose aren't reflected on.

Personally, I'd rather a person understands why they might be using language and/or have a deep understanding of the experiences of disabled people than that they get the language right all the time ( however, it's important to note that not all disabled people feel this way!).

Models of disability

Lots of people, when trying to get it right on disability, assume that there is one clear answer on how to behave and what to say about disability.

As above, the reality is that the thinking on disability changes over time, cultures, societies and politics. Even today you won't find agreement between disabled people on a singular right way to understand disability.

To understand the thinking behind these conversations we should talk about M odels of Disability.

When we talk about "models" of disability, we mean the conventional wisdom that is used to understand and respond to disabled people in the world.

By that I mean the systems of thought that have been used to determine who in society is disabled and who is not disabled.

It might be surprising to some people that who we understand as disabled today has changed throughout time. In fact, different models of disability have shaped what language and behaviours are seen as acceptable or normal in talking about or to disabled people, as well as understanding who is disabled.

In the next five blogs I'll talk us through some of the major ones found in the Western World over the last 150 years:

Follow the series here on the blog and share any links/thoughts/ideas/questions you have in the comments below or on twitter.

You can find the author of this series - Nim Ralph - on twitter at @NMRPLH.

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This is the start of a series of posts by community activist, freelance trainer and former DM team member, Nim Ralph, about how we understand disability and the way that shapes the experiences of disabled people.

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I'm not your inspiration, thank you very much | Stella Young

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I got 99 problems... palsy is just one | Maysoon Zayid

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One of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human.
A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn't built for all of us and of one woman's activism-from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington- Being Heumann recounts Judy Heumann's lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society.

Paralyzed from polio at eighteen months, Judy's struggle for equality began early in life. From fighting to attend grade school after being described as a "fire hazard" to later winning a lawsuit against the New York City school system for denying her a teacher's license because of her paralysis, Judy's actions set a precedent that fundamentally improved rights Being Heumann for disabled people.

As a young woman, Judy rolled her wheelchair through the doors of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in San Francisco as a leader of the Section 504 Sit-In, the longest takeover of a governmental building in US history. Working with a community of over 150 disabled activists and allies, Judy successfully pressured the Carter administration to implement protections for disabled peoples' rights, sparking a national movement and leading to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Candid, intimate, and irreverent, Judy Heumann's memoir about resistance to exclusion invites readers to imagine and make real a world in which we all belong.
Barnes and Noble Link IndieBound Link Bookshop Link

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Being Heumann | Personal Story & Fighting Education | Judithheumann

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One of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human.

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Disabled By Society is a Disabled-owned and led business dedicated to transforming exclusion into inclusion.

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This session was for MCEC, so teachers and support staff.

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This training was for university staff and faculty.

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CIS Training #2 Challenging attitudinal barriers