Blue-painted pavement with white wheelchair accessibility symbol in a designated parking spot.

Understanding Disability – Enabling Participation

Are people disabled—or are they disabled by barriers? This training explores how visible and invisible barriers limit participation, and how inclusive language, awareness, and practical strategies can help create a more accessible workplace.

Are people disabled—or are they disabled by barriers? In many areas of life, people with disabilities encounter visible and invisible barriers that restrict their participation. Learn how impairments can become disabling—and how everyone can contribute to removing barriers.

In this interactive course, participants explore disability in the context of Diversity & Inclusion. They become familiar with key terminology and definitions related to disability and develop a deeper understanding of how language and social structures shape the way we respond to physical and mental impairments. This helps make previously unconscious barriers more visible and understandable. These barriers also include unconscious assumptions (bias) about people with disabilities, which will be reflected on throughout the training.

To support practical implementation in everyday working life, the course also provides useful information on the legal classification of disability. We discuss forms of discrimination that people with disabilities may experience in the workplace, as well as relevant legal requirements under the German General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) and other regulations. Building on this foundation, participants develop strategies for creating a more inclusive work environment.

Topics and content:

Disability as a dimension of diversity
(Severe) disability: legal definition
Core principles of Diversity & Inclusion
Forms of discrimination
Strategies for employers
Disability and language: tips for communicating with and about people with disabilities
Visible and invisible disabilities
Disability as a social construct: Are people disabled, or are they disabled by barriers?
Unconscious assumptions (bias) related to disability
What do participation and inclusion mean?
Intersectionality: connections with other aspects of diversity (e.g., disability & age, or disability & cultural background)
Disability in labour and social law (especially under the German General Equal Treatment Act / AGG)

This seminar is ideal for:

Anyone interested — with or without prior knowledge