Building momentum from Disability Awareness Week

Public perception of whose bodies and minds are conventionally acceptable begins forming at a young age. Society and the media feed us images of what the ideal body or mind should look like. These false conceptions often lead to uncomfortability when discussing bodies and minds that fall outside these restrictive borders of normality. Why is that? How has this influenced the way we view the term “disabilities”?

Over the past week, there have been a number of events held on our campuses to attempt to answer these questions. These conversations are important to have because normalization cannot exist without constant dialogue and acknowledgement. It is time to challenge ableist thoughts, which means recognizing that an unjust belief exists in the “natural” form of existence: the existence of a non-disabled person.

Language matters and how we choose to use language can be productive or destructive. However, allocating more energy to figuring out what the ‘correct term’ is detracts from the substance of the issue. The focus should be the way by which society disables people with disabilities.

Nonetheless, individual preference is important when it comes to terminology, and personal terms should be used and respected. Society is the disabling factor. It is not a body nor a mind that is threatening but the restrictions in which a person with a disability must exist in an ableist society. Equivocating the conversation of disabilities is used to make non-disabled people feel comfortable.

Disability is a word that should be used. Instead of looking for another word to make the conversation more comfortable, ask yourself why you’re feeling uncomfortable. Engage in the uncomfortability rather than withdrawing from it. Attempt to understand the unconscious sentiment that exists around the word disability. Only when we do this active deconstruction can we break down unconscious ableist thought.

Disabilities are intersectional, affecting people of different races, sexual orientations and gender identities in different ways. As a community, it is important to recognize that we are just at the beginning of our journey to deconstruct ableist thought and unconscious biases. This week (Disability Awareness Week) has served as a way to introduce conversation on disabilities, but should not end after this week. We hope that our community will continue to discuss, reflect and recognize fluid bodies and minds.

Note: We, Olivia and Alex, both identify as non-disabled individuals and do not speak for the disability community. Rather, this piece serves as a reflection on the powerful dialogue spoken by inspiring disability activists, Judy Heumann and Dr. Miro Griffths during the event on Monday, Nov. 29: A Conversation About Disability Awareness, Rights, and Activism.