Council on Disability and Persons With Disabilities

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.

Learn about the CDPD's charge.
 

Disability Manuscript Award

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 Disability Manuscript Award winner(s) will be recognized at CSWE's Annual Program Meeting.

Learn more about the Disability Manuscript Award, including previous award winners.
 

Disability Resources

Curricular Resource

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.
 

Download the Curricular Resource on Issues of Disability and Disability-Competent Care: Diversity and Justice Supplement (PDF). 
 

Disability Courses in Social Work Education 

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.
 

Access more resourcees here.

Special Projects

Experiences of Social Work Students, Faculty, and Staff With Disabilities: Photovoice-Inspired Project

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.

Photovoice Art Compendium (Word)

Photovoice Art Compendium (PDF)

Art Compendium Companion (Word)

Art Compendium Companion (PDF)

Instructional Ideas (Word)

Instructional Ideas (PDF)