Disability Network Ableism Training Registration |
This workshop will be held at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation on March 11, 2019, from 9-11:30am
In its simplest form, ableism is the belief system that tells us it is better to be non-disabled than it is to be disabled. Ableism also examines disability discrimination on a systemic level by looking at the ways our society designs physically and socially segregated systems. During this workshop, you will learn about a variety of visible and invisible disabilities and the often false assumptions that we all have about people who are living with them. Such harmful cultural ideas around disability are often supported and perpetuated through the language that we commonly use. Language is a key component to supporting equity or perpetuating stigma. The presenters will identify harmful language and provide more inclusive terms. They also help to identify and challenge unconscious bias around disability, and society’s desire to lift up people with disabilities as heroes in our community simply because of their disability, and how this can diminish the real accomplishments made by these individuals.