Ableism and disablism are both ways of describing the difficulties and discrimination that disabled people face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Join over 87,000 others, and be part of the movement driving change for disabled people. <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
Did you realise that when a video on social media doesn\u2019t have captions, a person with a hearing impairment might not know what it\u2019s saying?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or that when a building doesn\u2019t have a ramp or lifts, a person using a wheelchair can\u2019t get inside?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are examples of barriers that disabled people face in everyday life. These barriers are sometimes described as ableism or disablism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On this page, find out more about the definitions of ableism and disablism, internalised ableism and disability discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ableism <\/strong>is a word for unfairly favouring non-disabled people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ableism means prioritising the needs of non-disabled people. In an ableist society, it\u2019s assumed that the \u201cnormal\u201d way to live is as a non-disabled person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is ableist to believe that non-disabled people are more valuable to society than disabled people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The following are some common ableism examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disablism is a word for negative opinions, behaviour or abuse against disabled people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You are being disablist if you treat someone differently, or choose to offend or hurt someone, because of their disability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Examples of disablism include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is some overlap between ableism and disablism and what they can look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disablism is a newer word. Some disability activists prefer the word \u201cdisablism\u201d to \u201cableism\u201d because they believe it makes it clear that disablism has nothing to do with the disabled person\u2019s \u201cability\u201d. It\u2019s a form of discrimination like racism or sexism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In general, ableism can be used to describe the way society and people tend to favour non-disabled people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Disablism can be used to describe more direct, conscious acts of discrimination or abuse against disabled people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many people use these words interchangeably. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Internalised ableism is all about the impact that living in an ableist society can have on disabled people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After being on the receiving end of ableism or disablism, you might feel low self-esteem or a sense of shame about your disability. Some call this internalised ableism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to remember that you deserve respect and dignity, and you have rights like everyone else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Disability discrimination is when you\u2019re treated differently because of your disability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It could be a one-off incident, or something that happens continually as a result of inaccessible policy or design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Discrimination could look like:<\/p>\n\n\n\nExamples of ableism<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
What is disablism?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Examples of disablism<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
The difference between ableism and disablism<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is internalised ableism?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is disability discrimination?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n