Disability rights
Disability rights are the human and civil rights of disabled people, including equality, accessibility, autonomy, and participation in society.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: A United Nations treaty that sets international standards for the rights and inclusion of disabled people. It translates disability-rights principles into obligations for countries that ratify it.
Independent living movement: A movement led by disabled people for self-determination, community living, and control over support services. Its organizing shifted demands from care imposed by others toward autonomy and access.
Social model of disability: An account of disability that locates disadvantage in social barriers rather than solely in a person's impairment. It explains why removing barriers is central to rights and inclusion.
Medical model of disability: An approach that understands disability primarily as an individual's medical condition or impairment. Disability rights challenge approaches that treat individual treatment as a substitute for removing social barriers.
Inclusive education: An approach to education in which students with disabilities learn alongside peers with appropriate support. It applies participation and equality principles to schools.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: A United States civil-rights law prohibiting disability discrimination in employment, public services, and public accommodations. It is a landmark national example of enforceable disability protections.
Section 504 sit-in: A 1977 protest in which disabled activists occupied federal offices to demand enforcement of Section 504. The protest demonstrated how collective action could secure implementation of civil-rights protections.
Accessibility: The design of environments, services, information, and technology so people with different abilities can use them. Accessibility is a practical condition for exercising rights across public life.
Charity model of disability: An approach that frames disabled people chiefly as recipients of pity, care, or charitable assistance. A rights framework replaces discretionary benevolence with claims to equality and participation.
Employment discrimination: Unfair treatment in hiring, workplace conditions, or dismissal because of a protected characteristic such as disability. Workplace rights protections address exclusion from economic participation.