We will lead a cohort of disabled people who are currently engaged in social justice work through a workshop series designed to develop knowledge and skills (peer support, self-advocacy, practicing access, and more) to navigate internalized ableism. This is not apolitical or completely individual. Participants will work with each other to find ways we can make the work of undoing internalized ableism a collective process and use what is learned in movement work beyond the cohort.
Dates and Times
This event is a cohort by application only.
The next cohort will be in September 2025. Applications are currently closed.
Program Description and Takeaways
Undoing Internalized Ableism is a 6-week program to equip disabled organizers with tools and strategies to combat internalized ableism and to work through the question: How can this work be collective?
The cohort will participate in 5 workshops on peer support, self-advocacy, collective care, and disability liberation. Accountability groups will provide support and deeper reflection, and there will be 4 collaborative spaces to work on final projects and connect with other participants.
The cohort is facilitated by a team of disabled organizers, some of whom have previously participated in the cohort themselves.
Internalized ableism is something that every disabled person deals with and for many it is the reason that they don't identify and/or participate in struggles for disabled liberation. Our movements rarely have a sophisticated approach to undoing ableism generally and almost never have a focus on internalized ableism. Because of this, there are very few structured accessible spaces to do this work collectively. Our goal is for disabled people to support one another so we can effectively contribute to movements without killing ourselves to do so and be able to decide for ourselves how we can push each other to meet the demands of what is happening to us. If we don't figure out how to make this a part of our fight against ableism, then we will have more generations of disabled people feeling unworthy and/or not engaging with movements altogether. Collective liberation is only possible with the full participation and self-determination of disabled people in our communities and movements.
Participants will leave with…
Knowledge:
- Theory of how internalized ableism impacts us
- Able to recognize internalized ableism
- Understanding disability as a place to organize from
- Have experience of an accessible and supportive space
- How other disabled people work to undo internalized ableism
Skills:
- Able to discern what can be handled individually versus what needs to involve community or organizing
- Able to delineate between what you have control of/or not is important
- Have tools for self-advocacy
- Skills to work with it collectively, in particular addressing it in movement spaces
- Peer support skills to navigate hard conversations and feelings
Attitude:
- People not feeling shitty about themselves, shifting blame to systems of oppression
- People not feeling alone, having more peers who can help engage in it
- Feeling less overwhelmed and being inspired to begin
- Feeling a sense of disabled identity grounded in movement history
- Believe that accessible spaces are possible and have more hope and expectation this can happen
Going beyond:
- Develop a peer community during the workshops
- Create ways to have these conversations in an ongoing way beyond these workshops
- Orgs or work people can plug into including care clinics — have prepared resources for folks
Additional Information
Who is this program for?
This program is only for disabled people, however, we recognize that people don't claim disability identities for various reasons. If you're wondering if this program is for you, here are a couple of ways of thinking about what disability is: Americans with Disabilities Act definition | World Health Organization definition. We all use different language; that's fine — what we have in common is that our needs are considered outside of the norm and we're not being supported to participate.
Accessibility
AI captioning will be provided.
Access requests, including interpretation and captioners, can be made during registration or by emailing Dustin Gibson at dustin (at) peopleshub (dot) org. Requests for interpreters and captioners that are made less than 48 hours before the event typically are more difficult to meet. We will try and notify you if we cannot secure requested access.
Registration Cost
The full cost of the program is $700; however, this is a pay-what-you-can cohort and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Many of our participants are sponsored by their organizations, employers, or schools — so if you belong to an organization, consider asking them to cover the cost.
At PeoplesHub we are committed to communication access, radical hospitality, supporting facilitators, and making our offerings financially accessible. This sliding scale allows us to continue offering programs like this one and pay trainers, interpreters, captioners, and other support staff a fair wage for their time and expertise. Like you, those who support our trainings work hard for change in their communities and have often developed the knowledge, skill and gifts that they are offering through many unpaid hours — let's support them to be sustainable in their work and craft!
Testimonials
Here's what UIA alumni have to say about their experience in the program:
Together with other disabled peers, we unpacked various factors that impact internalized ableism, and how it impacts us. We explored the systemic factors that lead to it, and influence it. We also considered systemic factors that influence our own advocacy, and how people respond to it. In our personal and collective healing, we sought to reflect on how we can bring this back to our local movement spaces. Unpacking internalized ableism is essential for disabled movement folks to find ways of participating that are sustainable, and that don't do the same body/mind breaking that the system aims to do.
— Kenzie Harris (she/they)
It's a mixture of learning larger DJ principles with practical skills for navigating the world, and also a space for disabled people to talk through shit in community.
— Lucid
It's well paced, lots of understanding around access needs and many options for communicating those needs and trying to workshop together to get them met. The group is so supportive and thoughtful, both participants and facilitators! It also feels very organic and like we were building the experience together in a way that was unique in my experience. There's also a lot of resources shared and the ability to workshop thru current lived issues in our small groups and the larger group too.
— Ru Stempien
I would describe it as a beautiful opportunity to be in community, and to connect with other disabled folks who are at varying degrees of their journey with undoing internalized ableism. It's a space to grow and build together, and feel seen and valued in a way that is so often not the case for neurodivergent / chronically ill / disabled people.
— Andrea Zamudio
The cohort experience was healing, empowering, and full of solidarity and hope. Being in this cohort truly allowed me to experience the unmatched joy and collective healing that happens when in community with fellow disabled folks, and reignited my passion for cross-disability activism work.
— Haley Sumner
I would describe it as confronting and heavy, but in a very good and needed way with a lot of support to get through it. It's emancipating really.
— Anonymous
You will feel seen, respected, and supported. This is a safe learning environment.
— Sarahbelle Casselman