Disability equality plan

Language and terminology

This plan is rooted in the social model of disability, which disabled activists developed to provide an alternative way of thinking about, and understanding, disability. In contrast to the ‘medical model’ of disability, which focusses on the person themselves as the ‘problem’ which needs to be ‘fixed’, the social model identifies inaccessible structures and systems as the root cause of disability. The barriers created by inaccessible structures and systems disadvantage and exclude disabled people, and these barriers are themselves disabling. People are disabled by the barriers they face, rather than because of their disability or health condition.

These barriers can be:

• Physical and environmental, such as buildings, housing, transport, communications.
• Institutional, such as the way policies and practices are designed and delivered.
• Attitudinal, including negative attitudes, discrimination, stigma, and exclusion.

When thinking about disability in terms of the social model, the goal is to remove, reduce and mitigate barriers which negatively impact disabled people. With these barriers removed, disabled people can flourish and live the same ordinary - or extraordinary - lives as their non-disabled peers and enjoy their right to equal and active participation in society. It is this understanding of disability which informs our choice of language: referring to disabled people rather than ‘people with disabilities.’

We refer throughout this plan to DPOs. As per the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) general comment 7^[1], DPOs are run by and for disabled people. This means at least 51% of their board, i.e. a majority, are disabled, and often this percentage is much higher. In addition, DPOs tend to employ a higher-than-average number of disabled staff.

The UNCRPD^[2] is an international human rights convention that sets out the rights all disabled people should be able to access. Its purpose is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by disabled people. The UK is a party to the Convention. The United Nations Committee for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the body of independent experts which monitors implementation of the Convention.