492 The Professional Counselor | Volume 13, Issue 4 language preference, and the ability to produce scholarship that accurately represents disabled people and community values. This impedes collaborative research with the disability community and reinforces a division and lack of understanding between the disability community and counselors or other medical and mental health providers. Allyship and Disability Justice Allyship is not an identity but a practice. Allies for the disability community must operate in solidarity with and advocate for the rights of those oppressed by systems in ways that do not reinforce the system’s oppression (Brown, 2015). This involves actively listening, observing dynamics of power, focusing on impact rather than intent, leaning into discomfort, modeling inclusive language, and offering kind and constructive feedback. In this context, it’s vital to understand ableism, defined as, “a system of assigning value to people’s bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normalcy, productivity, desirability, intelligence, excellence, and fitness” (Lewis, 2022, para. 4). Ableism devalues and discriminates against disabled people and gives preference and normative status to able-bodied people. The Disability Justice framework (Sins Invalid, 2015) offers a comprehensive and inclusive perspective on human bodies and experiences. The Disability Justice framework was originally developed by the activist Patty Berne, a co-founder of the organization Sins Invalid, to reflect the collaborative work occurring in community spaces. Sins Invalid is a performance project that deconstructs the dehumanizing practices disabled people face and centers intersectionality and diversity of identities. The Disability Justice framework emphasizes that every body is unique, important, and powerful. This framework understands that people are shaped by complex intersections of factors like ability, race, gender, sexuality, social class, nationality, religion, and more. Instead of isolating these factors, it insists on viewing them collectively. This viewpoint stresses that our pursuit of a fair society is rooted in these intertwined identities and points out a critical observation: Our current global system is essentially “incompatible with life” (Berne, 2015, para. 13). Disability Justice principles include “leadership of the most impacted,” “interdependence,” “collective access,” “cross-disability solidarity,” and “collective liberation” and focus strongly on intersectionality and cross-movement organizing to ensure no one is left behind or excluded (Sins Invalid, 2015, p. 1). Although there are voices advocating for disability rights, these are predominantly from within the disability community itself, a testament to the lack of understanding and allyship from broader society. Historically, those who could have been allies—abled caregivers, academics, medical professionals, and others—have often worked against the community, whether consciously or not (Dolmage, 2017). This can be combated first by ensuring access to spaces so that disabled voices are present. Then, allies can elevate these voices while implementing a framework like disability justice to ensure that those impacted are leading and that cross-disability approaches are being implemented around equity and liberation work, in line with community priorities. Implications for the Counseling Profession Counselor Education and Preparation Instructors have a critical role in supporting disabled counselors-in-training. Not only is this support mandated by law, but it also increases visibility, representation, and lived experiences of disability in the profession, thereby improving services for clients. Implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can minimize the need for accommodations and provide access, engagement,
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