Supporting People with Disabilities

Ableism permeates our lives on a day-to-day basis both in the built world and through a variety of societal norms we must work to break down. Many people are completely unaware of the ways that ableism shows up in their lives. 

Whether you are seeking ways to actively support friends, neighbors and colleagues with disabilities, or you are a person with a disability(ies) and seek educational resources, support or wish to report a bias incident, we hope you explore the resources on this page. Each of us can play a part in supporting the larger community of people with disabilities and working to eliminate ableism.

The resources below were compiled in partnership with students, faculty and staff from across the University for you to use in your exploration of disability justice and the development of skills to combat ableism. Requests to add additional items can be sent to [email protected].

The resources below include off-campus resources that Columbia is neither affiliated with, nor explicitly endorses. This list is intended only to inform our community of available resources.

BOOKS

The books listed below are only a small sample of books available from Columbia Libraries on this topic. Please consult with a Columbia reference librarian for additional resources.

Book descriptions are visible when hovering over book covers.

Book cover for Academic Ableism by Jay Timothy Dolmage
Academic Ableism brings together disability studies and institutional critique to recognize the ways that disability is composed in and by higher education, and rewrites the spaces, times, and economies of disability in higher education to place disability front and center. (Image courtesy of University of Michigan Press)
Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education

by Jay Timothy Dolmage

Book cover for The Guide to Assisting Students With Disabilities
This manual is a vital resource for administrators and faculty in health science programs that describes how to create accommodations that meet the needs of students with disabilities in academic health science settings. Grounded in federal disability law, case law, and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) determinations, this highly practical manual is written by experienced disability service providers from some of the most prestigious health science schools in the country. (Image courtesy of Springer Publishing Company)
The Guide to Assisting Students With Disabilities: Equal Access in Health Science and Professional Education

edited by Lisa M. Meeks and Neera R. Jain

Book cover for Parties, Dorms and Social Norms by Lisa Meeks
This handbook is filled with the information that young people with ASD say they want (and need) to know about alcohol and drugs, social media and online safety, relationship types and boundaries, safe sex, stress and emotional health, and independent living. It includes real life examples, coping strategies and practical tips to help young adults with ASD stay safe while living life to the full. (Image courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers)
Parties, Dorms and Social Norms: A Crash Course in Safe Living for Young Adults on the Autism Spectrum

by Lisa M. Meeks and Tracy Loye Masterson

Book cover for Disability as Diversity in Higher Education
Addressing disability not as a form of student impairment―as it is typically perceived at the postsecondary level―but rather as an important dimension of student diversity and identity, this book explores how disability can be more effectively incorporated into college environments. (Image courtesy of Routledge Publishing, Taylor & Francis Group)
Disability as Diversity in Higher Education: Policies and Practices to Enhance Student Success

edited by Eunyoung Kim and Katherine C. Aquino

Book cover for Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
In this collection of essays, Lambda Literary Award–winning writer and longtime activist and performance artist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha explores the politics and realities of disability justice, a movement that centers the lives and leadership of sick and disabled queer, trans, Black, and brown people, with knowledge and gifts for all. (Image courtesy of Arsenal Pulp Press)
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice

by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Book cover for Feminist, Queer, Crip by Alison Kafer
In this collection of essays, Lambda Literary Award–winning writer and longtime activist and performance artist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha explores the politics and realities of disability justice, a movement that centers the lives and leadership of sick and disabled queer, trans, Black, and brown people, with knowledge and gifts for all. (Image courtesy of Indiana University Press)
Feminist, Queer, Crip

by Alison Kafer

Book cover for Crip Theory: Cultural Signs of Queerness and Disability by Robert McRuer
Crip Theory attends to the contemporary cultures of disability and queerness that are coming out all over. Both disability studies and queer theory are centrally concerned with how bodies, pleasures, and identities are represented as “normal” or as abject, but Crip Theory is the first book to analyze thoroughly the ways in which these interdisciplinary fields inform each other. (Image courtesy of New York University Press)
Crip Theory: Cultural Signs of Queerness and Disability

by Robert McRuer

Book cover for Skin, Tooth, and Bone: A Disability Justice Primer by Sins Invalid
The Disability Justice Primer offers concrete suggestions for moving beyond the socialization of ableism, such as mobilizing against police violence, how to commit to mixed ability organizing, and access suggestions for events. Skin, Tooth, and Bone offers analysis, history and context for the growing Disability Justice Movement. (Image courtesy of Dancers Group)
Skin, Tooth, and Bone: A Disability Justice Primer

by Sins Invalid

Columbia Resources

External Resources