The Council on Disability and Persons With Disabilities (CDPD) is a council of the Commission for Diversity and Social and Economic Justice. The council functions to develop social work education resources that are related to issues surrounding disability and the experiences of individuals with disabilities. The council also works to facilitate the full participation of people with disabilities in social work education and is ready to assist in all endeavors related to issues of disability within this field. Finally, the council advocates to include social, political, and economic matters involving disability and individuals with disabilities in the framework of social work education.
The CDPD has the following functions:
- To center the tenets of disability justice in all areas related to social work education.
- To further the development of social work education curriculum materials related to disability, the experiences of persons with disabilities, and disabled communities.
- To identify and advocate for redress of procedures within academe and social work education that impede full participation of persons with disabilities
- To recommend to the Board, commissions, and membership policy statements, revisions, and activities that advance inclusive participation of persons with disabilities where appropriate
- To offer consultation and assistance in all endeavors related to issues of disability, persons with disabilities, and ableism at all levels of social work education, including the accreditation process
- To stimulate initiatives and activities that would bring the social, political, environmental, and economic issues of disability strongly within the framework of social work education
Resources & Projects
The Disability Manuscript Award recognizes scholarship that contributes to knowledge about disability; full participation of persons with disabilities; social, political, and economic issues related to disability and persons with disabilities; and social work education curriculum materials focused on disability and persons with disabilities. The winner(s) will be recognized at CSWE's Annual Conference.
The Curricular Resource on Issues of Disability and Disability-Competent Care provides a foundation for integrating disability content into social work courses. It outlines how content on disability aligns with each of the nine 2015 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards social work competencies and provides specific classroom resources for social work educators.
CDPD member Lydia Ogden is the lead author of a paper that examines the availability of disability courses in social work programs and provides suggestions on how more disability content can be included in the curriculum. See reference below:
Ogden, L. P., McAllister, C., & Neely-Barnes, S. (2017). Assessment of integration of disability content into social work education. Journal of Social Work in Disability & Rehabilitation, 16, 361–376.
Funded by CSWE Special Projects Fund, the purpose of this Council on Disability and Persons With Disabilities' (CDPD) project is to provide a creative and empowerment-based approach for social work students, faculty, and staff to share their experiences in social work programs and on college campuses through a photovoice-inspired approach. To increase the inclusivity of the project, the type of data collected was widened to include photos, sound collages, scrap booking, poetry, or other creative expressions. The CDPD would like the collected art to be used in social work courses to spark discussion about the experiences of social work students, faculty, and staff, both positive and negative. These materials could help students learn about disability, form possible actions in collaboration with disabled people, inspire ideas for policy advocacy, or disability community-connected research.
Below are the materials in Word and PDF format including the art compendium, a companion guide, and instructional ideas for incorporating this project into the classroom.
Leadership & Members
A. Suzanne Boyd, PhD, MSW, ACSW, FNAP
Associate Professor & ECMH Coordinator at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte
Co-Chair
Adrianna M. Fields, MSW
PhD Student at the University of North Carolina Greensboro
Alicia Melnick, DSW, MSW, LCSW
Assistant Professor of Practicum at the University of Pittsburgh
Ann Marie Yamada, PhD
Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Organizational Culture and Well-Being at the University of Southern California
Bonnie González, CPM, CCHS
Shift Supervisor, University of Phoenix
Jennifer Barr, MSW, LCSW
Associate Instructor and BSW Program Director at the University of North Florida
John Keesler, PhD, LMSW
Associate Professor at Indiana University, Bloomington
Julie Clockston, DSW, LCSW
Associate Professor of Social Work at Metropolitan State University of Denver
Kimberly Knox, PhD, LCSW
Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at New Mexico State University
Lydia Ogden, MSW, PhD, LCSW
Associate Professor at Salem State University
Miriam Elizabeth Bowman, MSW, PhD, LCSW
Assistant Professor at Gallaudet University
Sara Lichtenwalter, PhD, LMSW
Associate Professor and Director at Gannon University
Stephanie Felder, PhD, LCSW, CEM
At-Risk Individual Lead at Department of Health and Human Services, United States Public Health/Tulane University
Vandana Chaudhry, PhD, MSW
Associate Professor at the City University of New York, College of Staten Island