People with Disabilities
The phrase “people with disabilities” refers to diverse groups of people with physical, developmental, psychological, vision, hearing, and other disabilities. Not all disabilities are visible. According to the American Disabilities Act, a person with a disability is someone who has a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities, has a history or record of this type of impairment, and/or is perceived by others to have this type of impairment. Activism by the disabled people—including the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, and the Autistic community—has expanded our understanding and definitions of disability beyond impairment. Disability is more accurately being redefined in terms of differences, required accommodations, personal lived experience, and identity. An important part of this shift, many disabled people have shifted toward using disability-first language (i.e. a disabled person, an Autistic person, a Deaf person), though person-first language is still preferred in some communities and in reference to some conditions (i.e. a person living with a mental health condition, a person with a TBI). In general, it is best practice to refer to a disabled person in the way they refer to themselves.
People with disabilities belong everywhere, and deserve equitable access to employment, education, housing, healthcare, and recreation. They have made immense contributions to all aspects of life and culture in the United States, despite being historically excluded from many of the fields they impacted. Today, 26% of adults in the U.S. (61 million people) live with a disability. The disabled community has made great strides in advancing accessibility and equity, but disabled people still face disproportionately negative health and mental health outcomes. Long histories of misunderstanding, abuse, lack of care, stigmatization, discrimination, and unequal rights have created deep inequities for people with disabilities. Disabled people are significantly more likely to live in poverty, experience trauma, face barriers to care, and struggle with suicidal ideation than their able-bodied peers. Disabled people who are living in poverty, located in rural communities, LGBTQ+, Black, Indigenous, and/or of color often struggle the most to thrive due to compounding marginalizations.
Disabled people—especially disabled people of color and LGBTQ+ disabled people—are working to push disability equity to the forefront of justice movements, where intersectionality with disability is often overlooked and accessibility is often an afterthought. Misunderstanding, stigma, and exclusion still inhibit progress in all aspects of disability equity, from education and employment, to housing, healthcare, mental healthcare, transportation, and recreation. People with disabilities that are considered rare, complex, and/or “difficult” to accommodate are often most misunderstood and excluded. People with invisible disabilities frequently struggle with both exclusion from able-bodied people and other disabled people, due to their disability and needs not being immediately obvious. Progress with accessibility and disability accommodations are often slowest in rural communities and communities with high rates of poverty.
Partnering with disabled people to achieve health equity requires uprooting the ableist systems that perpetuate their exploitation, exclusion, and abuse. Institutionalizing and operationalizing accessibility and disability justice throughout all leadership levels of all sectors will require organizations, allies, and systems to deeply center and follow the leadership of disabled people. Justice and equity work must prioritize intersectionality, especially disabled people of color and LGBTQ+ disabled people. Allies should start by recognizing that disability is a complex, nuanced, deeply personal experience, and that change will require many diverse disabled voices. Community-led processes, self-representation, and centering the voices of people with disabilities—including invisible disabilities—are a few effective tactics communities can leverage to advance equity and well-being for disabled people.
See also: accessibility, mental and behavioral health, neurodiversity, Autism, eating disorders, veterans, older adults
Resources & Tools
Integrated Care for People with Disabilities: Lessons from an Accountable Care Organization
Story - Written
Brought to you by DASH
Reframing Neurocognitive Differences: What the Neurodiversity Movement Means for Public Health and Equity
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Deviancy, Dependency, and Disability: The Forgotten History of Eugenics and Mass Incarceration
Resource - Journal Article
Trauma Experiences of People With an Intellectual Disability and Their Implications: A Scoping Review
Resource - Journal Article
Gender Variance Among Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Retrospective Chart Review
Resource - Journal Article
Implications of Internalised Ableism for the Health and Wellbeing of Disabled Young People
Resource - Journal Article
Celebrating and Supporting LGBTQ+ People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Resource - Journal Article
Queer, Disabled People Like Me Are Excluded From LGBTQ+ Spaces – It Is Dividing Our Community
Resource - Journal Article
Disability Rates Among Working-Age Adults Are Shaped by Race, Place, and Education
Resource - Journal Article
Study Affirms LGBTQ People are More Likely to Have a Disability than the General Population
Resource - Journal Article
LGBTQ Vets Discharged Under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Have New Chance For Full Benefits
Resource - Journal Article
Minding The Access Gap: Addressing Both The Digital And Transportation Divides To Improve Outcomes
Resource - Journal Article
Accommodating Seniors and People with Disabilities: Model Policies and Procedures for Primary Care Practices
Resource - Journal Article
Pathways to Partnership: Early Childhood
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by SchoolHouse Connection
9 Ways We Can Make Social Justice Movements Less Elitist and More Accessible
Resource - Journal Article
Improving Communication Access for Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Resource - Guide/handbook
Active Design Supplement: Promoting Safety
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by Center for Active Design
Would People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Benefit from Being Designated “Underserved”?
Resource - Journal Article
Mental Illness and Reduction of Gun Violence and Suicide: Bringing Epidemiologic Research to Policy
Resource - Journal Article
The Pandemic’s Silver Linings: Moving Toward a More Inclusive New Normal for People with Disabilities
Resource - Journal Article
Mental Health Resources for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC)
Resource - Data Bank/repository
Improving Communication Access for Individuals Who are Blind or Have Low Vision
Resource - Guide/handbook
Disability Rights and Heritable Genome Editing: Resources for Teaching and Learning
Resource - Data Bank/repository
Improving Accessibility and Digital Inclusion for Those With Physical Disabilities
Resource - Guide/handbook
ADA Requirements: Wheelchairs, Mobility Aids, and Other Power-Driven Mobility Devices
Resource - Guide/handbook
The Art of Flourishing: Conversations on Disability
Resource - Website/webpage
Brought to you by The Hastings Center
Disability, Neurodiversity: How Can Digital Technology Become More Inclusive?
Resource - Data Bank/repository
Trauma and Ableism as Social Determinant of Health for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Resource - Webinar
Brought to you by YouTube
Published on 03/08/2023
Upstreaming and Normalizing Advance Care Planning Conversations—A Public Health Approach
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by MDPI
Disability-Related Stress and Inaccessibility as Trauma
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Reflecting on My Mom’s Death: Moving Toward A More Complex Understanding of Health, Disability, And Dying
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 03/28/2023
Telemental Health Provides Opportunity to Improve Population Mental Health
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
COVID-19 Response: Digital Accessibility and Other Best Practices for Remote Work
Tool - Toolkit/toolbox
Practical Recommendations for Enhancing the Care of Patients with Disability
Tool - Workshop/training
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