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Aiming for ALL Collection

Nothing About Us Without Us

The following resources inform the design process of the Aiming for ALL collection.

By Beth Stark, M.S.Ed., CPACCEducator and ConsultantInclusive Learning SystemsUDLAccessibility

Also available as: PDF (2 pages, 117 KB) Google Doc

Nothing About Us Without Us: How Disability Advocacy Can Reinforce Negative Perceptions

This article warns that even well-intentioned disability advocates can inadvertently reinforce the charity and medical models of disability, and calls for language and practice that centres human rights and agency.

Reference Hang'andu, P. (2023, October 20). Nothing about us without us: How disability advocacy can reinforce negative perceptions and discrimination. Includovate. https://www.includovate.com/nothing-about-us-without-us-how-disability-advocacy-can-reinforce-negative-perceptions-and-discrimination/

Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability, the SDGs and the UNCRPD

This resource explains how the phrase shaped the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, marking a shift from viewing disabled people as objects of charity to recognising them as rights-bearing subjects.

Reference London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. (n.d.). “Nothing about us without us”: Disability, the SDGs and the UNCRPD. FutureLearn. https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/global-disability/0/steps/37575

Nothing About Us Without Us: Promoting Disability History and Awareness in Classrooms

This educator-focused resource connects the phrase to classroom practice, offering tools for teaching disability history and building inclusive, empathetic learning environments.

Reference Facing History and Ourselves. (2024). Nothing about us without us: Promoting disability history and awareness in classrooms. https://www.facinghistory.org/ideas-week/nothing-about-us-without-us-promoting-disability-history-awareness-classrooms

The Social and Human Rights Models of Disability: Towards a Complementarity Thesis

This peer-reviewed article argues that the social and human rights models of disability are complementary, each playing a distinct and necessary role in advancing the rights of disabled people.

Reference Lawson, A., & Beckett, A. E. (2021). The social and human rights models of disability: Towards a complementarity thesis. The International Journal of Human Rights, 25(2), 348–379. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2020.1783533

Disability Rights: Nothing About Us, Without Us Examined

This overview traces the phrase from its Latin and Polish constitutional origins through to its central role in global disability rights policy, examining how it challenges the medical and charity models of disability.

Reference Langtree, I. C. (2025, December 13). Disability rights: Nothing about us, without us examined. Disabled World. https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/publications/journals/nauwu.php

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