Destigmatizing Disability
July 2021
Written by NCALL
“Throughout history, disabled people have been stigmatized. Disability has been linked to disease and helplessness, and in some cultures, disability is associated with ancestral curses. These stigmas commonly turn up in ableist language, also referred to as disablist language. Jamie Hale, CEO of Pathfinders Neuromuscular Alliance explains, “There’s a sense when people use disablist language, that they are seeing ways of being as lesser. It is often not a conscious attempt to harm disabled people, but it acts to construct a world-view in which existing as a disabled person is [negative].””