Inclusion (disability rights)

Common barriers to full social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities include inaccessible physical environments and methods of public transportation, lack of assistive devices and technologies, non-adapted means of communication, gaps in service delivery. Discriminatory prejudice and stigma in society, and systems and policies that are either non-existent or that hinder the involvement of all people with a health condition in all areas of life.

Inclusion advocates argue that one of the key barriers to inclusion is ultimately the medical model of disability, which supposes that a disability inherently reduces the individual's quality of life and aims to use medical intervention to diminish or correct the disability. Interventions focus on physical and/or mental therapies, medications, surgeries, and assistive devices. Inclusion advocates, who generally adhere to the social model of disability, allege that this approach is wrong and that those who have physical, sensory, intellectual, and/or developmental impairments have better outcomes if, instead, it is not assumed that they have a lower quality of life and they are not looked at as though they need to be "fixed."

Approaches

Inclusion is ultimately a multifaceted practice that involves a variety of approaches across cultures and settings. It is an approach that seeks to ensure that people of differing abilities visibly and palpably belong to, are engaged in, and are actively connected to the goals and objectives of the wider society.

Universal design is one of the key concepts in and approaches to disability inclusion. It involves designing buildings, products, or environments in a way that secures accessibility and usability to the greatest extent possible.

Disability mainstreaming is simultaneously a method, a policy, and a tool for achieving social inclusion. In short, it is a process that is centered on integrating formerly marginalized individuals into "mainstream" society. This is accomplished by making "the needs and experiences of persons with disabilities an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic, and societal spheres so that persons with disabilities benefit equally and so that inequality is not perpetuated." In educational settings, it is the practice of placing students with special education services in a general education classroom during specific time periods based on their skills to enable a person with a disability to take part in a "mainstream" environment without added difficulty by creating inclusive settings. For example, education initiatives such as IDEA or No Child Left Behind promote inclusive schooling or mainstreaming for children with disabilities, such as autism, so that they can participate in the community at large.