What’s in the document “Beyond Ableism and Audism”

In the first section, this document explains “ableism”, “audism” and “linguicism”. These are all forms of discrimination that affect deaf people. It also explains the difference between the “medical” “social” and “cultural” models of deafness. Next, it describes some of the international laws and policies that protect the human rights of deaf people. Meanwhile, the third section describes national laws in Canada that affect the rights of deaf Canadians. Afterwards, the fourth section explains provincial laws in Ontario, Canada. Then the fifth and final section makes recommendations for how the Ministry of Education of Ontario, Canada, can improve the situation of deaf students.

Who is this for?

The first and second sections of this document are relevant for the human rights of deaf people in any country. Meanwhile, the third, fourth, and fifth sections are mostly useful for people in Canada, especially in Ontario. One exception is for policy makers and deaf rights advocates in other countries. For example, they may want to compare their deaf rights laws with laws in other countries. This could help them decide how to improve laws in their country.

PDF accessibility

This PDF document is accessible for people using screen reading software with some exceptions. For example, the one image in the document does not have a description so blind people know what it is. (The image shows the concepts of “ableism” “audism” and “linguicism” as circles. The circles for ableism and linguicism both overlap the circle for audism.) Another example is that the document does not use running headers or footers. However, it tags tables so people using screen reading software can understand them.