Disability justice is a movement that aids in the furtherance of the interests of people with disabilities and the intersections with it. Namely, this movement is one that fights for the addition and improvement of accessibility laws. Accessibility laws are extremely important to implement. When they are not implemented, it creates a divide between those who are able-bodied and those who are not. On top of this, the lack of accessibility can make people who have disabilities feel more alienated and abnormal when in reality they are equal. To me, the lack of accessibility laws is a way to shift the power dynamic in the way of the “majority”. They encourage the biases that form because people with disabilities are “different” from the “majority”. Instead of accepting this ‘other group’, they make them feel abnormal.
In reading 105 in Readings for Diversity and Social Justice, Grasgreen speaks about the ignorance of universities and schools when it comes to DAS. I actually connected with their comments about students who could have DAS accommodations, but do not want to go through all of the hoops it takes. They speak about how medical documentation is required for accommodations which can be uncomfortable for students to share. Reading 115 speaks about how people can become allies to people with disabilities. Namely, allies need to recognize their privilege and use that privilege to aid people without it.
According to “The Social Model of Disability”, the medical model and social model of disability are different in many ways. The medical model treats disability as a problem or disease of an individual person that needs to be cured. The social model, according to Shakespeare, is a “culturally and historically specific phenomenon”. They expand this by saying that the group with disabilities is oppressed while non-disabled people are the oppressors. This model is thought to bring people with disabilities together and connect directly to disability justice. They did comment on the downfalls of the social model: it neglects the actual impairment that comes with living as a person with disabilities.
Sources:
Adams, Maurianne, et al., editors. Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. 3 edition, Routledge, 2013. 105. Students with Disabilities Frustrated with Ignorance and Lack of Services (Allie Grasgreen)
Adams, Maurianne, et al., editors. Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. 3 edition, Routledge, 2013. 115. Recognizing Ableist Beliefs and Practices and Taking Action as an Ally” (Madeline Peters, et al.)
Shakespeare, Tom. “The Social Model of Disability”. The Disability Studies Reader. Taylor & Francis, 2016.
