The Psychological Praxis and the Fight against Ableism for the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Abstract

This study discusses the evolution of conceptions about disability and the need for an anti-ableist psychological praxis. It critiques the biomedical model that reduces disability to bodily impairments and highlights alternative approaches that understand disability as a social construct, such as the social and biopsychosocial models. Its historical trajectory shows significant changes in terminology and in the recognition of the rights of persons with disabilities in Brazil driven by legal milestones and social movements. This study emphasizes the Brazilian Law for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities to adopt a perspective that acknowledges the interaction between impairments and social barriers. Psychology, as a science and profession, should overcome exclusionary practices and commit itself to qualified listening, social justice, and the recognition of functional diversity. This study highlights concrete actions such as CFP Resolution no. 09/2024, which establishes ethical and inclusive guidelines stemming from the active participation of persons with disabilities. Ableism configures a structural form of oppression, and psychology must take a critical and transformative stance guided by an epistemology of difference, full accessibility, and intersectionality. It is insufficient to avoid ableism; psychology must be actively anti-ableist.

Keywords:
Anti-Ableist Psychology; Human Rights; Accessibility; Biopsychosocial Model