Abstract
The last decade has seen notable changes in a disability policy. Social-welfare policies which have sought to separate and segregate people with disabilities have been reconsidered, and attempts have been made to develop a more integrated approach. The new approach recognises the role which discrimination plays in disadvantaging people with disabilities, and seeks, through, inter alia, legislation, to combat elements of disability discrimination and create equality of opportunity for people with disabilities. This article examines these developments and reflects on the attitudes and assumptions which lie behind disability policy today. The article focuses on recent developments in Europe, at both the domestic and European Union level, and places these developments in the context of evolving international human rights provisions, which have also begun to embrace a human rights approach disability. The area of employment is used to illustrate the changes in attitude, and the consequent changes in policy and legislation.