Millions of American citizens live with a disability. Most of the times, it is the old adults that are with disabilities. Generally, people with disabilities struggle a lot in certain aspects of life and one of them is the stigma of ableism. Discrimination against people living with disability in favor of the abled is what is known as ableism. This article is going to provide you with some top tips that will help you identify and raise awareness against ableism.
Abled language is one of the top forms of ableism. Abled language is whereby people speak in a way that discriminates against disabled people. You should endeavor to eliminate abled language because it is offensive to people living with disability. Some of the words that may be inherently ableism include retarded, moron and idiot which were once used to describe someone that is mentally disabled.
By calling people autistic as a joke, this is also viewed as another form of ableism. With plenty of memes around, people are connecting more on the Internet but the people that do not understand the joke in the memes are trolled and called autistic. The term autistic is used because people living with autism hardly recognize social cues such as humor.
An inaccessible space can be one of the indicators of ableism. According to the regulations, all spaces must be disability friendly, but you will find that there are some shops or public areas that cannot be accessed by some people. It is important for you to make your store to be wheelchair friendly as this will make the people using wheelchairs to easily navigate the office. By purchasing ramps as stated by the National Ramp, you can make your spaces accessible because they can be used indoors and outdoors.
Inaccessible events are another common form of ableism because it denies disabled individuals access to the events. As you plan for your event, you should consider making it accessible to all the people that are living with disabilities and those people that cannot walk for a long distance. It is important to recognize that not all the people that walk without a mobility device are able-bodied.
Another top form of ableism is whereby you will find inspirational videos made about the disabled people. A lot of people are making inspirational videos to try and make other people feel better about their life. You should avoid sharing such videos so that to eliminate ableism people living with disability also have a good life. To find out more about the other top forms of ableism, click here.