Glossary

Ableism is a form of discrimination or negative attitude toward persons with disabilities.

A range of factors that affect a person’s ability to fully participate in an environment.

Audism is a form of discrimination or a negative attitude toward D/deaf and hard of hearing people.

A normative system that subordinates deaf and hard of hearing people through a set of practices, actions, beliefs and attitudes that value hearing people and their ways of life (for example, hearing and speaking), to the detriment of a diversity of ways of moving and (sign) languages.

Designed or planned to be accessible to D/deaf people and people with disabilities.

Derived from the reappropriation of the insult “cripple,” the concept of crip time challenges the standard conception of time by highlighting the demands placed on people living with disability.

“Crip time” is an emancipatory concept that describes the results of a slower gait, malfunctioning equipment (from wheelchairs to hearing aids), a bus driver who refuses to stop for a disabled passenger, or an ableist encounter with a stranger that throws one off schedule.

The study of how dominant ableist norms and structures construct and regulate bodies/minds seen as desirable, normal and legitimate and those deemed undesirable, abnormal and illegitimate.

Term describing a person who identifies as hard-of-hearing, Deaf, oral deaf, Deaf-blind or deafened. Many Deaf people identify with Deaf culture, despite using different sign languages, because of their shared traditions, history and values.

The word “Deaf” with a capital “D” refers to a number of different lived experiences, ranging from culturally Deaf individuals to hard-of-hearing individuals or people who use both oral and visual means of communication.

Source : Canadian Association of the Deaf

Coined in 2003 by deaf researcher Paddy Ladd, the concept of Deafhood “emphasizes the existential position of deaf people rather than deafness as a pathology or physical condition.”

Disability Pride is an annual event that is open to all. It aims to bring visibility to people with disabilities and push for their full inclusion in all aspects of life, spread awareness of the realities of their lives and transform the way the public views disability. It is a space for people with disabilities to affirm their presence and their uniqueness.

A person with a significant and persistent disability who is liable to encounter barriers in performing everyday activities. The preferred Canadian expression is “persons with disabilities.”

Types of disabilities:

• Deaf or hard of hearing person NOT hearing impaired: Significant and persistent auditory acuity and discrimination limitations. Partial or no hearing.

• Deaf person: The term preferred by the Deaf community, which has a very strong culture and identity. This community considers itself a linguistic and cultural minority with its own existential dimension, including a unique language (Quebec Sign Language), traditions, expressions and artistic norms.

• D/deaf person: A collective noun used to refer to both “Deaf” people who identify with Deaf culture and “deaf” people who do not (Canadian Association of the Deaf).

• Wheelchair user NOT wheelchair bound: Significant and persistent motor limitations. Upper and/or lower body.

• Blind or low vision: Significant and persistent visual acuity and/or field of vision limitations. Partial or no sight. The term “person with a visual impairment” is also used.

• Person with an intellectual disability or a cognitive difference: Lower-than-average cognitive function accompanied by adjustment difficulty, which manifests at a young age and is a permanent condition.

• Autistic person: A neurodivergent person due to characteristics such as enhanced perceptual functioning, specific interests and a distinctive form of communication and socialization. Most autistic people prefer identity-first language.

• Person with speech-language issues: Structural or developmental difficulty with receptive and/or expressive language.

• Person with mental health issues: Changes in thinking, emotion, or behaviour, associated with significant distress and problems functioning. Another term used is mental health issues.

A person with some hearing loss but whose auditory abilities allow them to understand human speech, with or without the use of hearing aids. These individuals may choose to use sign language, spoken language or a combination of the two in order to communicate with others.

Source : Canadian Association of the Deaf

The interconnected nature of social categories such as race, class and gender, as they apply to a given individual or group, resulting in overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

Source : City of Montréal, Guide ADS+101, 2020 (In French only)

A discipline that challenges what it means to be “sane” and examines different concepts of madness, surveying societal, medical, political, economic and cultural factors.

These arts encompass the practices and processes of ensuring that the lived experiences and identities of people with disabilities are conveyed, explored and represented.

Mad, disability and deaf arts must be produced by people with mental health issues, people with visible or invisible disabilities and D/deaf people. However, artists with mental health issues or disabilities or who are D/deaf do not necessarily produce mad, disability, neurodiverse or deaf art.

The words “Mad,” “disability,” “neurodiverse” and “deaf” are adjectives that qualify the word “art.” Rather than focusing on awareness and coping with stigma, Mad Pride focuses on expressing the unique ways people experience the world in terms of making meaning, developing communities and creating culture. Mad Arts is the artistic exploration of Mad Pride focusing on mad histories and identities.

Neurodiversity is a concept that refers to both the neurological variability of the human population and the movements that seeks recognition and acceptance of these differences. Autism spectrum disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, giftedness, intellectual disabilities or differences, aphasia, ADHD and prosopagnosia are all included in this definition. Neurodiversity is a natural form of human diversity. 

Founded on inclusion, universal accessibility affords each and everyone, no matter their disabilities, an identical or similar usage, the autonomous and simultaneous access to services offered to the general population.

Concept of designing all products and the built environment to be aesthetic and usable to the greatest extent possible by everyone, regardless of their age, ability, or status in life. Where universal accessibility is the goal, universal design is the approach.

Source: Société Logique