1. 2 What is Disability?

What is "disability"?

The term "disability" means, with respect to an individual: a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, As Amended, 42 U.S.C. § 12102)

. . . .[D]isability [can be interpreted] as abject, invisible, disposable, less than human . . .
(Jay Dolmage, Academic Ableism)

. . . .no two people are the same — either with regard to disabilities or language preferences. (National Center on Disability and Journalism)

So Which Definition(s) are Right?

None of them are 100% correct.
Watch this video featuring Stanford students talking about their experiences
with disabilities on campus.
How do they define disability or their experiences of access issues?
If students with disabilities made a video about your campus, would their concerns be similar or different?

Note: This video has a strobe effect with elevator buttons in the first few minutes. This video also contains strong language that may offend some viewers.

This training and resources may be used without permission for educational purposes, with acknowledgment. Users may not modify materials from this site without permission. This faculty training is copyrighted by the National Center for College Students with Disabilities (NCCSD) at the University of Minnesota (2024). Content and design were created by Wendy Harbour (AHEAD), Sheryl Burgstahler (DO-IT), Richard Allegra (AHEAD), David Johnson (ICI), Brian Abery (ICI), and Renáta Tichá (ICI), unless otherwise noted. All pictures are from Bigstock.com or Canva, unless otherwise noted. This training was developed by the National Center for College Students with Disabilities with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education (P116D150005) to the Institute on Community Integration (ICI) at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. It was developed in collaboration with DO-IT: Disability Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology and the Association on Higher Education and Disability.

If you have difficulty accessing this site, contact the NCCSD at [email protected]. We cannot guarantee accessibility of external links.
Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the U.S. Department of Education, ICI, DO-IT, or AHEAD.

What is "disability"?​​

What is "disability"?