Disability Studies Cheat Sheet

The core ideas of Disability Studies distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.

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Quick Reference

Social Model of Disability

A framework that distinguishes between impairment (a bodily or mental condition) and disability (the social barriers and exclusion that people with impairments face). Disability is understood as produced by society rather than by the individual's body.

Medical Model of Disability

The traditional framework that views disability as an individual pathology or deficit located in the body, requiring medical intervention, cure, or rehabilitation to restore the person to 'normal' functioning.

Ableism

A system of discrimination and social prejudice that favors able-bodied and neurotypical individuals, devaluing the lives, contributions, and experiences of disabled people. It operates at individual, institutional, and structural levels.

Crip Theory

An intellectual and political framework, influenced by queer theory, that reclaims the word 'crip' to challenge normative assumptions about bodies and minds. It questions compulsory able-bodiedness and celebrates disability as a form of human diversity and identity.

Universal Design

The design of products, environments, programs, and services to be usable by all people to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. It benefits not only disabled people but the entire population.

Intersectionality and Disability

The analysis of how disability intersects with other axes of identity and oppression, including race, gender, class, sexuality, and nationality. Disabled people's experiences vary dramatically depending on these intersecting social positions.

Independent Living Movement

A social and political movement, originating in the 1960s and 1970s, that asserts the right of disabled people to live in the community with adequate support rather than in institutions. It emphasizes consumer control, self-determination, and peer support.

Disability Justice

A framework developed by disabled queer people of color, including Sins Invalid and Patty Berne, that centers the leadership of those most impacted by intersecting systems of oppression. It moves beyond legal rights to address collective liberation and interdependence.

Neurodiversity

A concept asserting that neurological differences such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other cognitive variations are natural forms of human diversity rather than disorders to be cured. It advocates for acceptance and accommodation rather than normalization.

Nothing About Us Without Us

A political slogan and principle originating in disability activism that insists disabled people must be centrally involved in all decisions, policies, research, and services that affect their lives. It rejects paternalistic approaches to disability policy.

Key Terms at a Glance

Ableism:Systemic discrimination and prejudice against disabled people, favoring able-bodied and neurotypical norms.

Accessibility:The design of environments, products, services, and information so that they can be used by people with the widest range of abilities.

Accommodation:Modifications or adjustments made to enable disabled people to participate equally in education, employment, or public life.

Assistive Technology:Devices or systems that help disabled people perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible.

Audism:Discrimination or prejudice against Deaf people, based on the assumption that hearing and spoken language are superior.

Compulsory Able-Bodiedness:The cultural assumption that able-bodiedness is the natural, preferred state for all people.

Crip Theory:A critical framework that reclaims 'crip' to challenge normative assumptions about bodies and minds, drawing on queer theory.

Curb Cut Effect:The phenomenon where disability accommodations benefit the broader population beyond their originally intended users.

Deaf Culture:A cultural and linguistic community of Deaf people who use sign language and view deafness as a cultural identity.

Deinstitutionalization:The movement to close segregated institutions for disabled people and support community-based living.

Disability Justice:A framework centering multiply marginalized disabled people, emphasizing collective liberation and interdependence beyond legal rights.

Disability Studies:An interdisciplinary academic field that examines disability as a social, cultural, and political phenomenon.

Eugenics:A pseudoscientific movement aiming to 'improve' the gene pool, historically targeting disabled people through sterilization and extermination.

Impairment:A bodily or mental condition, distinguished in the social model from 'disability,' which refers to social barriers.

Independent Living:The philosophy and practice of disabled people living in the community with self-determination and adequate support services.

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