Measuring the Impact of Ableism: Development and Validation of the Experienced Ableism Scale

Abstract

The goal of the current studies was to create a psychometrically valid and reliable quantitative measure of experienced ableism that can be used by individuals with a variety of disabilities, both visible and invisible. The researchers developed the Experienced Ableism Scale utilizing qualitative interviews and flexible coding with 21 adults with various disabilities and exploratory factor analysis with a separate sample of 300 disabled individuals to test the resulting measure. The qualitative interviews yielded 23 items, which were put into a measure using a 4-point Likert scale. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in a two-factor structure, with subscales for Exclusion (12 items) and Work of Disability (11 items). The psychometric results were very strong, including good convergent validity, excellent reliability for the total measure and both subscales, and a significantly normal distribution of scores. The current studies resulted in a 23-item scale with good psychometrics in the initial quantitative sample. The scale has numerous clinical and research implications, including demonstration of the importance of the emotional and functional labor disabled people put in to avoid and/or cope with ableism.

Keywords

ableism measurement measure development mixed methods

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