What we do

ALLFIE’s vision is a world where the right to Inclusive Education is universally recognised in law, realised in practice for everyone and not a struggle.

ALLFIE is a Disabled People’s Organisation  committed to building alliances with individuals and organisations who shares our vision. We successfully work with Disabled  students, and parents, across a wide range of educational backgrounds and experiences, and we have found that we gain real strength from that diversity.

Our influence

Our relationships and influence stretch over a wide range of networks and alliances interested in education, inclusion, Disabled children’s services, Disabled people’s rights and equality, and human rights more generally we have an impressive track record in successfully influencing change and also have a positive reputation nationally and internationally. 

What makes ALLFIE unique

ALLFIE leads the lobby for change in Inclusive Education as the only national  Disabled People’s Organisation working on this issue. ALLFIE is controlled and led by Disabled people. ALLFIE lives and breathes the ethos of the Disabled People’s Movement: “Nothing about Disabled People Without Disabled People”. 

Our Values:

Underlying ALLFIE’s work are 4 core principles:

  1. Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that Disabled children have the right to Inclusive Education and that this is the basis for full development of potential and self-worth, strengthening of human rights, and effective participation in society
  2. The Social Model of disability states that people are “disabled” not by their impairments (such as blindness or autism) but by society’s failure to take their requirements into account. Being Disabled is part of the normal spectrum of human life: society must expect Disabled people to be present and included in all communities and spaces. In education, this means the system must recognise that it creates barriers for Disabled pupils and students which must to be solved, rather than expecting Disabled pupils and students to adapt to the system.
  3. Intersectionality is the understanding that people can have more than one identity for example, being Black, Disabled, lesbian, and a woman as well as coming from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Failure to consider these different experiences increase oppression for Disabled people and results in ‘intersectional erasure’ ignoring individuals’ different experiences as the agenda is focussed only on ‘disability’.
  4. Lived Experience ALLFIE recognises the everyday reality for Disabled people is one of exclusion and human rights abuses. Professionals, services and charity organisations have tended to dominate ‘expert’ knowledge about Disabled people. This abuse of power usually adopts a scientific discourse rooted in negative and deficit assumptions about Disabled people. ALLFIE is committed to advocating and advancing the lived experiences of Disabled people, addressing unequal power relations, and adopts the mantra ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’.

Our Aims

Our aims as an organisation are: 

  1. Promote a wider understanding of the benefits of Inclusive Education for all pupils and students, not just Disabled pupils and students. 
  2. Lead the lobby for change in legislation and policy to ensure Inclusive Education as a right for all. 
  3. Build the capacity of the Inclusive Education movement to become a more effective voice of influence. 
  4. Ensure maximum effectiveness of ALLFIE and its future sustainability.