Confronting and Challenging Ableism in the Social Work Profession and Beyond (1.5 CEs)

Overview

While the field of social work has always been rooted in human rights, it has historically lacked a comprehensive recognition of disability as a complex identity influenced by overlapping social, political, and oppressive forces.

This continuing education course will provide an overview of ableism through an intersectional lens, exploring how it manifests on an individual and a systemic level. Participants will learn to identify the different types of ableism and their impact on the development of U.S. social policy and the collective mental health of the estimated 1 in 4 Americans with disabilities.

Our interactive presentation will offer practical tips for responding to ableist microaggressions and equip participants with strategies to advance the principles of disability justice in various areas of social work practice including curriculum and program design, policy development, and legislative advocacy. With new skills to understand the disability experience beyond paternalism and stereotypes, they will be empowered to imagine and build an actively anti-ableist future for social work clients, colleagues, and society at large.

Objectives

1. Define ableism (Bloom’s taxonomy: knowledge)
2. Identify examples of ableist microaggressions and understand how they impact people with disabilities (Bloom’s taxonomy: comprehension)
3. Recognize the ways in which ableism affects social policy in the United States (Bloom’s taxonomy: comprehension)
4. Explain major laws protecting disability rights (Bloom’s taxonomy: comprehension)
5. Develop strategies to address ableism and increase accessibility both in the delivery of social work services and in everyday life (Bloom’s taxonomy: synthesis)

Registration and CE Information

• Register here for the CE version and earn 1.5 CEs on completion of the post-webinar quiz
• This listing is for those wanting CEs for LCSW/LSW and LCPC/LPC licenses.
• Please see the non-ce version if you do not need CEs
• The live webinar will be held April 13, 2026, from 11:00am - 12:30pm
• Once registered, you will be able to access the course site to complete the Zoom registration to receive the link for the webinar.

Presenter: Molly M. McLay

Molly M. McLay, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker and therapist who has worked as a mental health educator, researcher, and advocate from her current home base of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, for the last 15+ years. Her areas of practice expertise include gender-based violence, LGBTQIA support, anxiety, neurodivergence, chronic illness, and reproductive health including infertility and pregnancy loss. In early 2024, she opened Molly McLay Counseling & Consultation Services, PLLC, an organization that provides psychotherapy, clinical supervision, and medical advocacy virtually to individuals across the state. She has spent time working toward a PhD in social work at Washington University in St. Louis, and she has previously worked at a group therapy practice, the University of Illinois Women’s Resources Center, and a federally qualified health center with at-risk pregnant and parenting women. She has also been a member of the Champaign County Mental Health Board for the last 3 years and became president of the board in June 2024. She loves singing karaoke, writing poems, listening to most genres of music but especially jazz and musical theater, hanging out with her husband and her senior hound mix Alvin, and talking about whatever is important to you.

Presenter: Kathleen Downes

Kathleen Downes, LMSW, BCPA holds a master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2018) with a concentration in leadership and social change. Born with cerebral palsy and a rare spinal disorder called Tarlov cyst disease, she is a passionate advocate for the disabled community, especially those navigating Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and home care. While unable to work in a formal capacity due to her disability and fluctuating health, she remains involved with many causes, including Medicaid Matters New York, where she serves as a volunteer Steering Committee member and consumer representative. She has been a board-certified patient advocate since 2021. She volunteers as her health allows to create parent education materials for families of disabled youth at a non-profit dance program called Dancing Dreams. She serves on the St. Mary’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, representing families of medically complex children and adults with disabilities receiving in-home care. Kathleen is an avid reader, writer, and thinker who resides on Long Island with the help of her parents, her caregivers, and her bossy lap dog Dolly.