Module 3: Reframing Disability
Disability Rights and Justice
Disability Rights Framework
Aligned with the social model, this framework strives to uphold the equal humanity and dignity of all persons. The disability rights framework contends that disability/impairment status is the basis for historical mistreatment and disadvantage. The remedy for discriminatory treatment is directed at the legislative context. Legal interventions strive to:
- articulate and uphold equal human rights and equitable opportunities
- identify and protect against discrimination at the interpersonal, organizational, and levels
- intervene through legal frameworks, policies, and practices
Media Moment
Time: 27 minutes, 09 seconds
Engage with Carol Haywood of Northwestern University and her discussion of the Americans with Disabilities Act and its impact on doctor-patient relationships.
Doctors, Disabled Patients & Ableism | The Pulse
Video Transcript
Reflection Moment
Take a moment to reflect on medical ableism in Canada.
Can you find a Canadian resource that examines how healthcare professionals understand, interpret, or resist disability-related legislation in their practice?
Consider, for instance, that in Canada we do not have an equivalent to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, but we do have a comparable provincial legislation with Ontario’s Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Can you find a resource (video, podcast, news article, etc.) that discusses Ontario physicians’ views of this legislation as it relates to their practices?
Disability rights and legislation will be discussed in greater detail in Module 4: Access, Accommodation, Rights, and Justice.
Disability Justice
Distinct from disability rights, is a led by and directed towards those at the margins of previous disability movements and scholarship. Disability justice resonates with , , , and , but remains grounded in the lives of those most impacted by injustice.
In centring marginalized communities that have nevertheless survived and thrived, disability justice positions their expertise through experience, which provides principles for living, thinking, and being.
Review the Ten Principles of Disability Justice from Sins Invalid. There is text and an ASL video of these principles on this webpage.
Media Moment
Time: 7 minutes, 20 seconds
We can extend disability justice to the experiences of medical professionals themselves. Engage with this video which discusses systemic racism experienced by Black healthcare professionals from Spectrum Health Beat.
Black health care professionals experience racism
Frameworks Review
Activity
Relating to or affecting an entire system, organization, etc. rather than just some parts of it (Cambridge Dictionary).
A grassroots movement that advocates for the rights, dignity, and inclusion of disabled people, focusing on intersectionality and collective justice.
A movement that is community-driven, often emerging from the needs and experiences of people with direct lived experience.
A framework that explores how racial inequalities are embedded in social, political, and legal systems.
A theory that challenges traditional understandings of gender, sexuality, and identity, and explores how these norms impact diverse communities.
A feminist framework that emphasizes the importance of relationships, empathy, and caregiving.
A critical theory that focuses on the role of class and economic systems in perpetuating inequality.
