Ableism & the Negative Emotional Impact on Disabled Children

From teachers to students, children with disabilities and special needs often face many challenges in creating interpersonal relationships at school. As the parent of a child with special needs, it is important to know how your child may be affected by a common stereotyping behavior known as "albeism".

Ableism is the term used to describe the behavior or preconceived notion that many students, school officials and even teachers carry with regard to children with disabilities. Whether your child lives with an intellectual disability or a physical disability, the labeling associated with ableism often results in negative outcomes. As a parent of a child with special needs, it is important to understand the concept of ableism and to know how to identify the issues when your child may be at-risk for the negative stereotyping associated with it.

When affected by ableism, your child may state that they do not feel adequate or equal to other students. When an educational setting carries a sense of "ableism", there tends to be a general mindset that disabled individuals are considered inferior to the general population of the school. Believing it is better to not have a disability of any kind, schools may not intend to convey the message of ableism but, by the very nature of the environment, ableism may be inherent in the arrangements.

In some schools, disabled children are incorporated and blended with the general population. While it may seem that this type of arrangement will off-set the risk for development ableism within the student body population, if the school is not adequately prepared for managing a variety of disabilities, this may only serve to promote the sense of ableism among students. Realizing this, many schools have special education classes which provide for the unique care disabled children require and, thus, reduce the stereotyping associated with ableism.