Achieving Disability Inclusion

“When other people see you as a third-class citizen, you need belief in yourself and the knowledge that you have rights. Then you need a group of friends to fight with”

— Judy Heumann

On March 8, the world lost a true shero:  Judy Heumann (shown above center), known as “the mother of the disability rights movement” in the US and beyond. Without her, we might not have the Americans with Disabilities Act or the first United Nations global human rights treaty of the 21st century.

While progress has been made, those with disabilities are still targets of "well-meaning” microaggressions. For example, Joe uses a wheelchair and is often told how inspiring he is and how remarkable it is that he lives by himself. Shana is sight impaired, and a colleague persistently speaks to them slowly and in a high-pitched voice.

Even though one in four people in the US has some type of disability (either visible or invisible), unemployment rates for those with disabilities are about twice as high as for those without.
And many are underemployed given their actual mental and physical capabilities.
So why is progress slow?
Research shows that implicit or explicit bias, personal discomfort around disabilities, and ignorance continue to block full disability inclusion.

The truth is we still need to change hearts and minds by building awareness and empathy.
For example, Activate recently worked with a leading global pharmaceutical company to develop an asynchronous training program on disabilities. Employees with disabilities, members of the Disabilities Employee Resource Group, and an external expert/activist participated in the design process.
The result was a course with content & activities on:

• Types of disabilities, visible and invisible

• Bias and microaggressions

• Communication best practices

• How to ally as an abled person

You can start showing up as an ally by: 

acknowledging and respecting individual experiences and abilities

learning about different disability types

leveraging your influence to promote accessibility and inclusion

and yielding the floor to people with disabilities to lead the way in dismantling barriers