Higher education is filled with learning, and yet few engage with the history of the disability justice movement in our current approaches to disability inclusion in higher education.
The historical and political context of disability justice in the UK encompasses a complex tapestry of struggles, progress, and legislative landmarks.
To achieve meaningful inclusion for disabled people within education, we must confront and learn from our history and recognise the reality disabled people face in our society – and importantly, what that reality is built from.
From the Idiots Act to the Equality Act
We all know the value in supporting greater access and participation of disabled students into education. In England, some providers’ Access and Participation Plans (APPs) even state it as a key target.
So perhaps it’s rather fitting to start our journey into changing the way we understand disability with the Idiots Act (1886). This rather insidious piece of legislation purported to make entry into education institutions easier, providing:
…facilities for the care, education, and training of Idiots and Imbeciles.
In reality, it was the first piece of legislation to start to isolate and distinguish some disabled people into classifications of “idiots”, “imbeciles” and “lunatics”.
Instead of supporting disabled people to access education, the Act perpetuated the institutionalisation and segregation of disabled individuals. As a direct result, many were confined to asylums and institutions, subjected to dehumanising conditions, and stripped of their autonomy.
The legacy behind our language is important. Words like “idiot” and “imbecile” are still part of our vocabulary, but what aspects of our history are we accidentally upholding when we use them?
Deficit models
The good news is that this draconian bit of legislation was repealed with the Mental Deficiency Act (1913).
The bad news is that its replacement expanded the efforts to separate so called “undesirable” people from society, with the additional category of “feeble-minded”.
“Feeble-minded” included unmarried pregnant women, highlighting once again that disability justice is an intersectional- and particularly feminist- issue.
This rhetoric would continue to devolve as eugenics practices rose in the UK, leading up to the passing of the Sterilisation Bill (1931) targeting those in this category as mentally defective.
It’s especially sobering to realise that many of our education institutions not only predate these acts, but still teach in buildings formerly used to segregate people under these acts.
Movement for justice
But amidst these dark chapters, the seeds of resistance and empowerment were sown. The disability rights movement began to take shape, driven by passionate activists and organisations dedicated to challenging societal attitudes and demanding equal rights.
The 1970s saw the formation of the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS). UPIAS played a pivotal role in reshaping the discourse around disability, all whilst its members were confined within abusive institutions themselves.
They rejected the notion of disability as an individual medical problem and pioneered the social definition of disability. They argued that disability was not a personal failing, but rather the result of societal barriers and attitudes.
This perspective became the basis for what was later described as the “social model” of disability, as coined by the late Mike Oliver. Today, the social model is not just embedded in the policies of our providers – it was formally adopted by the UK government in 2005.
In the late 1980s, the Direct Action Network (DAN) emerged as a forceful voice for disability rights. Comprising of disabled activists, DAN employed non-violent direct action to highlight the systemic discrimination faced by disabled individuals.
Their protests, sit-ins, and campaigns brought the voices and demands of disabled people to the forefront, challenging the status quo and advocating for change. Through their efforts, they compelled our society to confront its biases, discriminatory practices, and ingrained disablism.
Their impact and legacy can be felt still through the activism and campaigns of the disabled staff and students on your campuses that emulate their work from 40 years ago.
These key moments from the disability rights movement marked significant milestones on the path to the greater inclusion and equality we champion within our institutions today. They laid the groundwork for legislative developments that have started to dismantle barriers and foster a more inclusive education.
Foundations of disability inclusion
The historical and political context of disability rights in the UK offers an essential foundation for meaningful disability inclusion today. It encompasses a recognition of past injustices, a commitment to dismantling current barriers, and a determination to challenge disablism in all its forms.
Embedding the social model of disability in universities’ approach to disability justice is a fundamental aspect of this foundation. By embracing this approach, universities acknowledge that disability is not an inherent flaw within individuals, but rather a consequence of societal structures, attitudes, and barriers – some that have been hanging around for centuries.
With the onus placed on society and its institutions to proactively identify and remove these barriers, we can start to create an inclusive environment where disabled individuals can fully participate and thrive.
Participation isn’t justice.
A crucial principle that underpins disability justice is the mantra of “nothing about us without us.” It emphasises the importance of including disabled people in decision-making processes and policy development.
This mantra recognises that disabled individuals are the experts on our own experiences and champions our right to be at the forefront of shaping inclusive practices and policies. In some ways, institutions continue to replicate the flawed, exclusionary processes that led to the Idiots Act and Mental Deficiency Act – we still see non-disabled people with a deficit view of disability are responsible for the design and implementation of policies that directly impact disabled individuals.
We’re hearing more and more talk of co-production, in one form or another, in higher education. But we must go beyond if we’re to have a hope of fixing the future of education. Policies, processes and projects must be crafted directly with disabled people through co-creation, co-design, and co-production.
Whether it is the Fitness to Study policy or the procurement of new desks, embracing the lived experience of disabled staff and students within the institution is the bare minimum.
We know the UK disabled community is not a homogenous group (let alone internationally), so we can anticipate that the disabled community on campus will be from a wonderful diversity of backgrounds and identities.
We see through our own disability history that it isn’t just the Equality Act category of “disabled” that is impacted by an exclusionary environment. The disabled community has the greatest potential intersectional diversity out of any marginalised group, and therefore any approach towards meaningful, lasting change to our education system must be through an intersectional lens of disability justice. UPIAS and DAN showed us that there is power in voice, and all disabled people and our diversity must be heard within higher education.
We know our education system must change if it’s going to survive.If that future is to include disabled staff and students, we must not just understand the foundations of disability history that our institutions were built on, but also the the leftover legacy of language and culture that we must address to reach equity and justice.
Diversity and Ability have pioneered inclusive education support and training that’s led by, and for, disabled people. Let’s co-design a future where we learn from the disability justice work of the past to build a more inclusive education system for the future. Find out how you can gain the tools to embed the foundations of disability inclusion in your practice here.
