CHAPTER 1

Ability

Members of the student council at Maple Valley Collegiate decide to host their prom at a local banquet hall. The hall is not accessible by wheelchair and Felipe, a student who uses a wheelchair, is angry.

This isn’t the first time people who use wheelchairs have been excluded from a school dance. The student council members are surprised by Felipe’s complaint. He hears one of them say, “Do people in wheelchairs even dance?”

The council tells Felipe it’s too late to change the venue, however they offer to carry him up the stairs when he arrives at the hall, so he can attend the prom.

The student council members have planned an event that meets their own needs and reflects their own identities, but it doesn’t meet the needs of all graduating students. The student council is expected to represent and consider the interests of all students, but it has failed to do so in this case.

•What are the stereotypes at play?

•What do you think of the student council’s plan to accommodate students with physical disabilities?

•What impact will this plan have on students using wheelchairs?

•How could this plan affect the way other students perceive people who use wheelchairs?

•What could the student council do to make the event accessible?

What Do We Consider a Disability?

There are many definitions of disability. Some disability activists have identified and distinguished between different models of disability to contrast and compare perspectives.

The Medical Model

These are some of the aspects of the medical model of disability:

•The labels “disabled” and “able-bodied” are considered natur