Beyond Inclusion: How to Raise Anti-Ableist Kids

If the question is “How do you raise anti-ableist kids?” the answer is “Become anti-ableist and then model it through intention and action for your children.” Raising kind and compassionate children is a goal for a lot of parents.While many people have a desire to be inclusive of their disabled and neurodivergent neighbors, and strongly desire to pass these values along to their children, they do not have a breadth of education or experience on how to appropriately do this. Beyond Inclusion breaks down fifteen common forms of ableism, with explanations, examples, and first-person accounts. Then, author Carrie Cherney Hahn offers activities and perspectives that help parents understand the ableism that exists within them and supports their ability to process and dismantle it so that they can model anti-ableist practices for their kids. Each chapter offers children’s resources that parents can use to nurture informed and anti-ableist ideals in their kids. Inclusion is actually the bare minimum. Our work is to show our children how to become more understanding, more accepting, and hopefully also more appreciative of disabled and neurodivergent people.