What is Internalised Ableism?

By definition, internalised ableism is when a disabled person discriminates against themself and other disabled people.

It often comes from the persons upbringing and social surroundings. Internalised ableism is the subconscious thoughts that have been drilled into us by an ableist society. It is when a disabled person absorbs and believes the negative stereotypes and prejudices society holds about them.

Internalised ableism can be forcing yourself past your own limits because you believe you need to prove yourself, or never asking for accommodations, and holding yourself to the same standard as your neurotypical peers, whilst believing yourself to be a burden to others due to your disability.

Of course it’s called internalised ableism, because more often than not the person is unaware that they are being ableist, it’s a subconscious thing that takes time and hard work to unpack. You need to fully accept your disability before you can truly unpack your internalised ableism.

Although it is mostly aimed towards the individual, it can also manifest and project onto other disabled people too.
Believing that because you push your boundaries and try to conform to societies standard, and become a “palatable” disabled person, they should also be able to conform too.

Examples of internalised ableism

• Believing yourself to be lazy or weak and that you just need to try harder

• Repressing your stims because you believe they are “childish” or embarrassing

• Believing you don’t look disabled and therefore aren’t disabled enough

• Refusing to make accommodations for yourself because you don’t need them

• Believing yourself to be a burden to others due to your disability

• Refusing to acknowledge that you have a disability

• Holding onto the belief that “it’s just how it is” when something isn’t right

• You only view physical disabilities as “valid”

• Blaming yourself or your disability when you aren’t able to have your needs met, and believing you are being difficult

• Feeling like you have something to prove and pushing yourself to attain unrealistic standards

• Wishing you where “normal”

• Forcing yourself to partake in activities that cause you harm or discomfort because you think you should be able to do it with ease just like everyone else

• You feel you don’t deserve accommodations because you “aren’t as bad” as someone else

I hope this was a helpful look into internalised ableism.

Have a super good day,

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