THE SILENT D IN DIVERSITY
DISABILITY
BE AN ALLY TO THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY
Allyship is a lifelong commitment to support and stand with marginalized groups
The CDC defines disability as "any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions)." There are 1.5 billion persons with disabilities across the world, and in the United States alone, 26 percent of adults have some type of disability. Thereby, disability is the largest minority group in the U.S. Yet, people with disabilities are startlingly left out of conversations about diversity and are habitually ignored and marginalized.
This site serves as an educational resource to learn about different types of disability, what ableism is/ how to detect it, and the importance of accessibility. The ways that the ADA and other disability-rights laws have been implemented often require individuals to navigate through a host of bureaucratic mazes in an effort to access support. Thereby, it’s important to educate the public on the different models of disability and how to become a disability advocate.
The first step in allyship is education on the basics of disability, such as the types of disabilities, disability laws, and accessibility resources. This site provides many resources to learn about the disability community by amplifying the voices of people with disabilities. Engaging with people that have various types of disabilities is key to understanding their lived experiences. Allies to the disability community truly want to get to know disabled individuals in order to understand how their life experiences might be different from disabled individuals. Using this knowledge, allies can then effectively promote disability inclusion and accessibility.
Discover why accessibility MATTERS through engaging with resources to learn more about the disability community and the history of the disability rights movement. Here you can find a list of resources to learn more about disability issues and culture.