About Us
The Center for Disability Justice is dedicated to co-developing innovative research and policy solutions to dismantle ableism alongside community partners. Our mission is to foster health equity, social connection, and mobility justice, affirming that unrestricted access to one’s home, work, community, and healthcare environments is a right, not a privilege.
The center is built on four main pillars, each designed to support its vision of creating fair research and engagement opportunities for people living with disabilities.
- Population Health
- Community Engagement
- Disability Research Education and Training
- Translational Research on Disability
Acknowledgement
The term Disability Justice was coined in 2005 by Sins Invalid. It builds on the disability rights movement and takes a comprehensive approach to securing rights for disabled people. As set forth by the Disability Activist Collective in 2010,
“Disability Justice is the cross-disability (sensory, intellectual, mental health/psychiatric, neurodiversity, physical/mobility, learning, etc.) framework that values access, self-determination and an expectation of difference. An expectation of difference means that we expect difference in disability, identity and culture. Disability Justice includes space for self-care, reflection and hard discussions.”
You can read more about Disability Justice and related terms here.
The University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Disability Justice acknowledges the roots of Disability Justice as part of a larger spectrum work.
Structure
The Center for Disability Justice is jointly housed within two departments within the University of Maryland School of Medicine and encompasses a Core Leadership Team, a Community Advisory Board, and the ENhancing Rehabilitation to Improve Community Health (ENRICH) Lab.
Funding Information
The Center for Disability Justice is jointly supported by the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science and the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.