Cripping rehabilitation: A disability justice approach to research and practice

Despite increased recognition of the necessity of inclusive research and writing to encompass the diversity of human experience, discrepancies regarding how we conceptualize and describe disability persist. Differences in language signify differences in thinking, yet there also exist opportunities for reconciliation that center disability justice as a core tenet of rehabilitation research and practice. The purpose of this article is not merely to encourage academics to use the "right" language, but to question how we think about disability in our work and world.

Bringing together literature from rehabilitation and critical and feminist disability studies, we propose a crip reimagining of rehabilitation research and practice. Rooted in feminist and queer theory, "to crip" means to apply a disability justice lens and unsettle ableist assumptions.

Incorporating approaches from disabled scholars and activists encourages the adoption of a disability justice framework that centers the desires and needs of disabled people. In yet another political moment when disabled people face existential threats to their lives and well-being, it is essential that rehabilitation psychologists and other professionals follow the lead of disabled people to advance efforts for disability justice.

Disability justice demands not the eradication of disability, but the creation of a world in which disability is recognized as part of human variation, an effort that starts without our own discipline. We must find ways to continue recognizing and promoting possibilities for treatment and support, while also understanding that many disabled people live meaningful, fulfilling lives with or without our assistance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).