Disability Studies Glossary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The phenomenon where disability accommodations benefit the broader population beyond their originally intended users.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The portrayal of disabled people as inspirational solely for living with disability, objectifying them for non-disabled audiences.

The analysis of how overlapping social identities such as race, gender, class, and disability create compounded experiences of oppression.

The framework viewing disability as an individual pathology requiring medical intervention or cure.

The concept that neurological differences are natural human variations rather than disorders to be cured.

The principle that disabled people must participate in decisions and policies affecting their lives.

Legally required modifications enabling disabled people to participate equally in employment, education, or services.

A framework identifying societal barriers and attitudes, rather than individual impairments, as the source of disability.

A socially constructed attribute that discredits a person, reducing their social identity and leading to discrimination.

The design of products and environments to be usable by all people without adaptation or specialized design.

Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation, a UK organization whose foundational documents helped establish the social model of disability.