Reflections on Disability Justice and Anti-Ableism Work
Disability rights activism and those who are committed to disability justice frequently find that their work straddles the often-separate spheres of policy and passion. The hopes and objectives of persons living with disabilities and their allies can take very ‘practical’ forms, such as advocating for the adoption of universal design in urban planning or a national disability benefit. However, the roots of their work lie in more intangible yet significant concepts like social inclusion, mutual aid, and heart-centered approaches to self-advocacy. At the JHC, our commitment is to anti-ableism and human rights-focused disability activism within our communities.
The last week in May every year is National AccessAbility Week, a time to celebrate the contributions of Canadian persons with disabilities, as well as acknowledge the continued systemic barriers disabled folks face and the efforts in motion to remove those barriers. The theme for 2024's National AccessAbility Week is "Forward Together: Accessibility and Inclusion for All," emphasizing the need for collective efforts to create a barrier-free Canada. This theme goes hand-in-hand with the current discussions of our Action on Ableism team members, who meet regularly to connect, strategize, and move forward the important work of disability justice and disabled representation.
Action on Ableism seeks to call attention to how ableist policies, practices, and service provision create barriers to the realization of dignity and human rights within disability communities across Alberta and the country. But not only does Action on Ableism spotlight the issues faced by persons with disabilities, but their work and practice are reflected in real action and education. As one member shared:
“Perhaps we can focus both on not only what we want to eliminate with ableism, but also focus on what we want to accentuate as positive behaviours in society. After all, not all able-bodied people necessarily understand what ableism is about, but they often do not understand what positive behaviours or perspectives/attitudes about people with disabilities we would like them to embrace…[We have the] capability to educate and offer positive perspectives and actions.”
A highlight of Action on Ableism’s activities was in 2023, when the first Action on Ableism Retreat weekend took place as part of National AccessAbility Week. The gathering, focused on the arts and the creative process, was a transformative and empowering experience for participants and created a safe and inclusive space for individuals with disabilities to explore their potential in advancing dignity, accessibility, and disability rights through creative means.
In early December 2023, the JHC and its event partners Righting Relations Canada and Canadians for A Civil Society hosted the Ignite Change Global Convention, a ten-day commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the signing of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The fourth day of the convention, planned in collaboration with Voice of Albertans with Disabilities, marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities under the theme of “Confronting Ableism and Building Disability Justice.” Individuals and organizations from across Canada and beyond heard from thought leaders and on-the-ground facilitators about critical issues and innovative ideas around disability rights advocacy. Topics explored included accessibility and equity for immigrants and refugees with disabilities, the reimagining of disabled people’s participation in business and economic innovation, the universal benefits of inclusive design, and the role of civil society movements in Canada in advancing commitments to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The presentations were both heart-centered and action driven, providing inclusive, engaging and sometimes challenging discussion spaces for people to learn from one another and permeate the barriers between policy and passion. This feeling was succinctly shared by the Day 4 keynote speaker, Rabia Khedr, CEO of Disability Without Poverty:
“I speak from my heart with my lived experience as a racialized Muslim disabled woman who grew up advocating for siblings with disabilities, including intellectual disability. I speak as a mother who wants a better tomorrow for every child in this country. And in this world, I speak as a human being that wants no more suffering and hardship for anybody…If we put our whole hearts and souls into the effort—if every one of us has a contribution to make,…[those] contributions spiral into change.”
We encourage you to spend some time exploring some or all of the fascinating and important presentations from Day 4 of the Ignite Change Global Convention, found below. Each presentation and the folks behind them contribute to building a stronger, more equitable, and barrier-free Canada.
Ignite Change Day 4 presentation playlist
Click on the + to the right to expand each presentation and access the YouTube recording.
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Welcoming remarks from Sam Mason, Provincial Accessibility Coordinator at Voice of Albertans with Disabilities.
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As a blind woman and family member to people with intellectual disabilities, Rabia discusses how social barriers make it more complicated and costly to live with a disability, and what can be done from the ground up to ensure greater equity for all in Canada.
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Asociación Transiciones is a comprehensive wheelchair service, manufacturing wheelchairs personalized for each user according to their needs, abilities and living conditions. The recipients are mainly poor Guatemalans who would otherwise be stuck at home without mobility. Since most of our factory crew are wheelchair users themselves, they understand the importance of having the most appropriate chair for each user.
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This presentation serves to break down barriers to accessibility and inclusion by creating awareness and understanding about people living with disabilities. Voice of Albertans with Disabilities gives interactive presentations about ableism, appropriate language and behaviour, dignity, spoon theory and more. Donna Bulger is herself a former teacher who lives with a disability, and she brings a personal perspective to the presentation through her stories.
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Just as the time has come for emphasizing 50 articles on rights of persons with disabilities, so too the time has come for the Universal Design paradigm to evolve toward a more organic, truly integrated/functional and in-depth understanding of access design for people with disabilities. The next evolutionary description is the focus of this lecture with Dr. Mark Iantkow of Libertas Adult Education.
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This presentation from the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) focuses on successful capacity-building of the settlement sector in providing services to newcomers with disabilities. It highlights the initiatives undertaken by OCASI's Accessibility Initiative to develop curricula, resources, and programs aimed at changing the sector's behaviour and enabling the provision of accessible and inclusive services.
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In this talk, Brad Bartko inspires a rethinking about how we value people with disabilities as current and potential entrepreneurs and innovators. In sharing his experience of building disABILITY Accessible by Design, Brad shows there are innovative alternatives to traditional employment models.
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The most recent Maytree report confirmed that New Brunswick has the lowest welfare payments in Canada, with New Brunswick residents sitting at a rate 2 and ½ times below the deep poverty level. There is also a minimal stock of accessible housing, with over 7000 on a wait list. This presentation from the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities (NBCPD) gives more detail about the situation currently facing disabled people in the province.
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This session, facilitated by Wesdyne Otto of Positive Shift Training and Coaching, is a role playing exercise where participants joined one of 4 "gatekeeper" groups and answered questions relevant to disability. The role playing allows exploration of the relationship between gatekeepers and people with disabilities, and evokes positive dialogue and change for everyone.
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Very little has changed for housing for people with disabilities since Confederation. Canada has gone through institutionalization, to an era of community experimentation, only to reinvent institutionalization with progressive-sounding programs. This presentation from representatives of the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities and the Ontario Disability Coalition explore the systemic ableism at the core of accessible housing, and suggest ways to overcome discrimination in housing.
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Many Alberta students with intellectual disabilities are denied access to the inclusive education that they should be provided under UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In this presentation, Emily shares her story of seeking access to an inclusive education, and the barriers she faced in the K-12 system before she was eventually included through inclusive post-secondary. Emily is accompanied by Aqeela Khalid, Inclusive Education Consultant with Inclusion Alberta, who will situate this story with the content of the right to an inclusive education.
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Filmmakers Zian Chavez, B.A. Short, and Robert Lafady discuss and share their documentary film "We Are the Most Beautiful People: Adults With Disabilities." Hear about the production process, and the ongoing work being done to amplify intersectional voices and the experiences of people living with disability.