Making Disability Visible in Social Work Education

The role of social work education is to prepare students to work with individuals, families, and communities, many of whom have one or more disabilities. Yet most social work programs include limited disability-specific content in their programs, and with a deficit-model focus. Recent changes in the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and the Council on Social Work Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards moves the profession from a disability toward an ability framework; yet disability is still often invisible in curricular content and in the ways social work education recognizes and responds to disabled students, faculty, and staff. This article discusses frameworks for ways social work education can proactively and intentionally address disability within ableist institutional practices.