BACKGROUND: Knowledge about how disability professionals understand ableism may provide insight into the production of inequalities. The aim of this study was to examine how disability professionals understand ableism. METHODS: We asked 347 disability professionals, all of whom worked with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, among other populations, to define ableism and then analysed those definitions using content analysis. RESULTS: The themes about how participants understood ableism were: discrimination; differential treatment; individualization; norms and othering; ableist language; microaggressions; and systems and environments. It was also not uncommon for participants to say ableist things, and express misconceptions in their definitions. This included these themes: avoiding disability; using ableist language; framing disability as in/ability; centring people without disabilities; ignoring invisible disabilities; believing only people without disabilities have bias; and believing ableism does not exist. CONCLUSIONS: Knowing disability professionals' understandings of ableism is necessary to intervene biased attitudes and reduce ableism.
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