Able-ism is a form of discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities (mental, emotional, and/or physical). Able-ism maintains an assumption that people with physical and/or mental disabilities are not normal individuals. An able-ism society is said to be one that treats nondisabled individuals as the standard of “normal living,” which results in public and private places and services, education, and social work that are built to serve “standard, normal” people, thereby inherently excluding those with various disabilities. Examples of able-ism include inaccessible public buildings, inflexible height of tables and counters, unusable transportation systems, and segregated education. Examples of ability privilege include the certainty that theaters, mass transportation, and entertainment venues will provide comfortable and convenient seating arrangements for “normal” people.
From: Thompson, Sherwood. "Able-ism." In Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice, edited by Sherwood Thompson. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014. https://rider.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/rowmandasj/able_ism/0?institutionId=3526