Anti-Ableism Task Force: An Opportunity for Prophetic Change

Ableism is all around us. The Disability and Philanthropy Forum defines ableism “as a set of stereotypes and practices that devalue and discriminate against people with disabilities. It assumes that the bodies and minds of non-disabled people are the “default”, placing value on them based on society’s perceptions of what’s considered normal.” Healthcare settings are one of the primary places where ableism shows up. Even though significant percentages of patients have one form of disability or another, health care workers often lack empathy, experience, and understanding of the specific concerns of people with disabilities.

Sadly, despite the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act, hospitals reflect the ableism of our world.  For example, the physical layout of healthcare centers is often difficult to navigate.  Sign language interpreters are not readily available.  Not all hospitals or healthcare settings has a Disability Officer to address the challenges of people living with disabilities. Similarly, in religious and spiritual communities, inclusion of persons with disability is often lacking. Religious leaders rarely get educated about this aspect of diversity and equality. In short, in healthcare and spiritual settings, people living with disabilities face bias. This bias contributes to a poorer quality of life.

People with disabilities who are called to health care professions or to ministry – including chaplaincy - face real struggles, both in their training and in their work. See a report based on the “lived experiences of learners and physicians with disabilities” from the American Association of Medical Colleges entitled “Accessibility, Inclusion and Action in Medical Education”.  Clinical Pastoral Education programs and chaplains are found primarily in healthcare centers of one kind or another. However, consistent awareness of how bias affects all aspects of ministry, CPE, and chaplaincy is often lacking. The Anti-Ableism working group is charged to look deeply into to this aspect of diversity and how it affects CPE programs, educators, and students. 

Clinical Pastoral Education programs exist in ableist contexts and mirror other forms of professional education. We, too, make assumptions about the physical skills needed to provide effective spiritual care as well as the “disabling” impact of other mental, emotional, or neurological limitations. All of us need to understand that it is the environment of attitudes and stereotypes distilled into policies and procedures that disables persons much more than the lack of normative abilities. Attitudes about disability, as in racism, are structural and contextual as well as personal. Ableism – just as racism – affects us all.

The Anti-Ableism Task Force invites all CPE educators, chaplains, therapists, and students to join us in exploring ways that our educational programs can more equitably include and serve students with varying abilities and empower them for ministry in a world that too often precludes their contributions with ableist assumptions.  Here’s what we are doing:

  • Gathering bibliographic resources for use in evaluating program standards, policies, and practices from other disciplines.
  • Interviewing current and former students, chaplains, and educators with disabilities about their experiences in CPE programs and health care ministry wit results presented in a workshop at the ACPE/APC conference in May.
  • Supporting CPE centers’ self-assessment through a survey regarding issues of ableism.
  • Proposing best practices for CPE centers and suggesting skills to be included in our CPE outcomes as well as Reasonable Accommodation policies that should be part of accreditation.
  • Furthering anti-ableism work in ACPE and ensuring that the voices of people with disabilities are represented in our work.

    From some of the conversations we’ve had so far, we have learned some things already:

    • CPE students shouldn’t be expected to enlighten their educators and peers about disability, ministry, and theology.
    • Students with disabilities, like most people with disabilities, don’t want to be seen as “an inspiration.” They want their learning process to be about how they use their strengths and limitations well.
    • More focused work on, and commitment to, reasonable accommodations is needed in the framework of universal designs for learning, i.e., creating learning environments that work for many different styles of learning, gifts, and needs.
    • ACPE’s passion for social justice as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion needs to expand to offer everyone a chance.

      Here’s what you can do:

      1) Join us in this exciting work and tell us what you are doing to address ableism in your setting!

      2) Educate yourself using resources from the intersections of disability, ministry, and theology.

      3) Besides written resources, check out your local educational and medical contexts for programs that provide supports for students with disabilities. Dialogue with them and engage in a mutual process of addressing ableism well.

      4) Involve people living with disabilities in all aspects of your programs and ministries: as educational faculty, Professional Advisory Group (PAG) leadership, SIP facilitation

      5) Follow up with students with disabilities who have been through your programs for advice on what you can do better.

      We also welcome your help! We want to talk with students, CECs, and educators who have experienced ableism or have taken steps towards inclusion in their programs. Please contact Malu Fairley-Collins, malu@allianceofbaptists.org if you are interested in engaging in further conversation around your experiences or if you would like to work with us on the Task Force.

The Task Force currently includes: