Building an inclusive society

Abstract: This article defines the characteristics of an inclusive society for people with disabilities and describes three building blocks for developing such a society. These three literature-supported building blocks involve building on a firm foundation; building with a guiding purpose; and building to bring about meaningful systemic change. The article emphasizes that building an inclusive society is a gradual and networked process that involves applying these three building blocks to bring about systemic changes in attitudes, behaviors, laws, policies, practices, and institutions.