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Each time that I teach this course, students are most often surprised by this topic. They have either- not heard of ableism before- or they have not had the opportunity to reflect on it and think about it more deeply. Our next two modules will provide some space for that. The video I shared with you this week by Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor is one that really opened my eyes around the idea of disability and ability as social categories. I am interested to see how you respond to this video too. Their dialog in the video certainly furthers our ongoing conversation about intersectional identity and categories of privilege and marginalization!

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It's really interesting to think about gaps in understanding and knowledge as blind spots, but it's a really good way to put it. I like to think of myself as someone who is well-versed in a myriad of topics, especially those concerning equity for marginalized groups. However, I understand that there are some things I just don't know, can't fully know, and need to learn more about. I feel comfortable talking about many topics that others may find polarizing or controversial, but I am not an expert by any means and could always learn more. From some quick introspection, I think I could benefit from more focused research on inclusive practices concerning POC and the disabled. In my undergrad, I had a class focused on the exceptionalities of students and for one of our projects, we were assigned a disability and were relegated to that mode of transportation for the class. We had to go all around campus to test out how truly accessible it was. Although the school followed and adhered to ADA guidelines, it was definitely not easily accessible and really only worked to keep disabled people out of the community. It's really eye-opening to do something like that because as an able-bodied person, I see ramps and elevators and don't think twice about whether or not it's actually serving those who need it.

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I have never heard of ableism but after reading and watching the video, I have learned that ableism is discrimination against special needs/abilities. When thinking about ableism I think of the classroom and how it can be discriminatory taking students with disabilities/special needs out of the classroom. To me this ties in with inclusivity and how it's discrimination and separation from the classroom and other students. After watching the video one part that stuck out to me was when the people were asked what is sexism and the response was “a female is supposed to be in the kitchen cooking and not out working”. Sadly this is how I have come across people feeling and acting, like the woman should be the caretaker of the house and children and not work. A surprising fact was the amount of people in the U.S that have some level of a disability and 15% of that population are age or older. When talking about ableism and even in the video some people never heard of the word and I have to agree, I never heard of ableism when referring to disabilities or special needs.  Lisa Caffalette

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Prior to reading about it this week, and watching the video, I had very little knowledge about ableism. My general thoughts about what it was simply people who are not able bodied being discriminated against. While this is the technical definition, I learned that it can affect these people in so many ways, very similar to any other acts of discrimination. This directly relates to the conversations we recently had this week about inclusivity. When talking about inclusivity, people typically think of being inclusive based on race, gender or sexuality. However, as a future educator, we should all be aware of ableism as it is something we will very likely encounter.

Nick Rossi

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Although I have learned about ableism briefly before, this unit and the resources provided has helped me better understand the meaning of ableism and presence and effects of the physical and social repression of those with differing abilities. The video with Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor was very eye opening to me as they discussed the social effects of ableism. One specific part of this video that stuck with me was how increased physical access for those with disabilities leads to inclusivity, social access, and acceptability within communities. This comment allowed me to realize the importance of both physically and socially inclusive environments, and how the dynamics of these environments can help shape a communities responsiveness and acceptance of others, as well as create more opportunities for those with disabilities. This video also discussed how those with differing abilities are faced with social repression daily through limited housing options, career opportunities, social isolation, and the ableist cultural aversion to disabled people. This conversation helped open my eyes to the many ways ableism can impact a community's physical and cultural structure, as well as how the lack of inclusive environments for those with disabilities can cause social isolation and repression.

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Ableism and Inclusivity Reflection - Jenna Frankel

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Ableism and Inclusivity Reflection - Jenna Frankel

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After reading/viewing the materials on our slides, I have realized that I truly do see ableism as a discriminatory factor often in life. Thinking back to my college campus, it was hard to get around if you were not able to walk, as many buildings did not have easily locatable elevators or ramps. I remember I was once on crutches, and struggled getting to each class. It was not easy, and I can only imagine what disabled or special needs students experience every day. I commend the elementary school I work in, as the entire school is accessible by ramps. My only critique there is that there are not many handicapped bathrooms. I think it is vital, though, that our society does more to increase inclusivity, and that as future educators we are educated on the topic. I liked the practice suggested of "learning your blind spots," as I think reflection on this topic can be quite valuable.

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Before coming to Quinnipiac, I had actually never heard of ableism. Now that I am more familiar with the term, I can say it's definitely something I've seen manifested in a variety of ways, both growing up and even now in grad school and adult life. I think in order to combat it, we need to spread education on it more than we have in the past. People learn in school about racism, sexism, etc. but rarely about ableism, which is probably why many of us were previously unfamiliar with it. I agree with the point from one of the videos also that this lack of awareness and education around ableism likely stems from an underlying fear that people have of becoming disabled. It could happen to anybody, but in my opinion that is even more of a reason to be accepting and inclusive.

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After reading and reflecting on the sides, I realized that I had not heard of the term ableism before. Ableism is "discrimination in favor of able-bodied people." In order to make sure that you're being inclusive to everyone, it is important to think back and reflect on your choices when it comes to including others. Along with that, it is important to respect people, no matter what kind of disability they have. It is also important to stand up for others when you see ableism occurring. Helping others is another way to promote inclusivity of everyone. One more way to promote inclusivity is to spread the word. Create conversations about ableism in your classroom and help students understand how important inclusivity is.

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Ableism and Inclusivity Reflection- Liv Paffumi

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Ableism and Inclusivity Reflection- Liv Paffumi

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After reading and reflecting on the slides and articles, I realized that I have known about the term abelism briefly. During my undergraduate years at Syracuse, I took a special education classroom where we learned alot about the term abelism. I had learned in the past that it's important to make sure that your classroom is easily accessible for all students. I have noticed that ableism isn't very well known as a term in the society and that there are many places that are not accessible for students that might have disabilities such as not having handicapped bathrooms, no ramps, non automatic doors etc. I think that abelism should be taught more and that we should increase inclusivity and become more educated on this topic.

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After reading the slides and the articles I realized that I did not know that much about this topic. I know the Definition about it and it states "Ableism is a form of discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities. It encompasses attitudes, beliefs, and actions that devalue and marginalize people based on their physical, mental, or emotional differences. This discrimination can manifest in various ways, such as social exclusion, lack of accessibility, stereotypes, and unequal treatment in employment, education, healthcare, and other aspects of life." I this this is an important definition to remember, I have noticed that in many areas there are not handicap availability. More schools and more places need to think about what they need to make it accessible for everyone.

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I have heard of ableism before, often during PD when I worked as a paraprofessional and I found the conversation between Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor very impactful. I think it is so important the conversation they had about how physical access is necessary for fostering social access for people with disabilities. When people are around differently-abled people they become more understanding and accepting of people’s differences but they also brought up some really important points about the harms of having widely accepted expectations for how people can move and use their bodies. I think it raises important questions about how teachers supervise students in the classroom and how can we care for our students with different abilities without reinforcing unnecessary social norms or policing their bodies.

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I’ve heard of ableism but it wasn’t something that I ever really looked into beyond just a generalized idea of what it was. There were a lot of aspects of ableism that I’ve never really thought deeply about, whereas I’ve had numerous conversations and reflections on topics such as racism and sexism. In the Butler & Taylor video, what really stood out to me was the difference between impairment and disability. The impairment itself is the actual physical or mental functions that are being affected. Whereas the disability actually comes from the limitations society puts on people with impairments. That was a very powerful message because it’s not really a topic that we hear much but it’s something that impacts millions of people. In the Ableism documentary, I thought there was a very unique point that was made, and it was that people have a natural aversion to disabled people because some disabilities are something we could wake up with tomorrow. With a lot of common impairments, they can develop later in life or they can be the result of an accident, or even just naturally. I think that fear of “it could happen to me” naturally makes people want to distance themselves from people with disabilities almost as if it is “contagious.” With our current political climate, ableism isn’t something that is on the forefront of social issues which is unfortunate because of how many people it directly and indirectly affects.