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Disability knows no boundaries, impacting individuals, families, and communities across the globe. It can be experienced at any time across the lifespan and has consequences for living a good life. The politics of difference means that people with disabilities are stigmatised and othered. Capitalism firmly entrenches ableism in the Global North, and it is also dominant in the Global South. Ableism drives intolerance of impairment and disability, consequent oppression, discrimination and social exclusion. Professionals need relevant knowledge and skills when working with children and adults who live with disability, and their families and nominated support persons. They need to be aware of the contested nature of disability; socially and culturally constructed, disability has no universal definition. Systemic changes are required to ensure all citizens are treated equally and fairly.

This course is designed to enable students to explore different conceptualisations of disability and to challenge social constructions that do not privilege the voice and agency of people living with disability. Informed by Deleuze who argued the origin of difference is difference itself; students will approach the experience of disability from the perspective that diversity and difference are an ordinary part of the human condition. It is an inter-professional course as professionals often need to work together collaboratively when engaging with people living with disabilities.

Disability is contested and controversial, with no universal definition. Neoliberal society demands able-bodied contributions from its citizens and places responsibility for living with disability at an individual level. Hence, disability is medicalised, pathologised and typically understood using a deficit model. However, professionals working with people with disabilities have a moral, ethical, and legal responsibility to challenge stigma, discrimination, inequality, and disadvantage.

This inter-professional course explores disability and impairment through a critical lens, privileging the voices and experiences of people who live with disability. While the Australian landscape, inclusive of the NDIS and the recent Royal Commission of Inquiry is introduced, experiences of disability in both the Global North and the Global South are addressed. Different models and frameworks are critically examined to enable students to see how imperative it is to advocate for a human-rights approach. Identity politics are examined, leading to exploration of the negative consequences of ableism and othering. The roles and contributions of the many different professionals working alongside people with disabilities, and their families, are also considered.

Students are introduced to the work of Gilles Deleuze who argued that difference comes before identity and is internal to all things. Inspired by Deleuzian thinking, this course argues that professionals need a shift in perspective. Students will be positioned to embrace the need to stop categorising, sorting, and labelling with regard to impairments or other identity markers. Upon course completion, students will actively resist problematising constructions of disability. They will respect that all human beings are born different; difference is foundational of life itself. Disability needs to be understood as a context-specific articulation of omnipresent difference.

On completion of this course students should be able to:

1. Discuss different definitions of disability and impairment within a historical context;
2. Evaluate the impact of different models of disability on individuals, families, and communities;
3. Argue the relevance of a Deleuzian approach to disability; including how to redress ableism and celebrate diversity and difference;
4. Describe the Australian landscape of services and support provided to people with disabilities, in the broader context of the Global North and the Global South;
5. Critique the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; Australian legislation and policy; and the NDIS;
6. Use critical disability theories and frameworks that are person-centred but to also advocate for systemic changes required to address oppression, discrimination and social exclusion experienced by people with disabilities;
7. Participate in inter-professional collaborations that privilege voice and agency of people with disabilities; including articulation of the roles and contributions of a range of professionals.