Appendix A - Social and medical models of disability
According to the social model, disability is exacerbated by an environment that creates barriers. A social model perspective does not deny the reality of impairment nor its impact on the individual. However, it does challenge the physical, attitudinal, communication and social environment to accommodate impairment as an expected incident of human diversity.
The social model of disability says that disability is caused by the way society is organised, rather than by a person’s impairment or difference. It looks at ways of removing barriers that restrict life choices for people with disability. When barriers are removed, people with disability can be independent and equal in society, with choice and control over their own lives.
The social model of disability contrasts with the medical model of disability.
The medical model looks at what is ‘wrong’ with the person and not what the person needs. It creates low expectations and leads to people losing independence, choice and control in their own lives
According to the medical model, disability is a health condition dealt with by medical professionals. People with disability are thought to be 'abnormal' or different from ‘what is normal’. Disability is seen to be a problem of the individual.
From the medical model, a person with disability needs to be fixed or cured. From this point of view, disability is a tragedy and people with disability are to be pitied. The medical model of disability is all about what a person cannot do and cannot be.
The social model sees disability as the result of the interaction between people living with impairments and an environment filled with physical, attitudinal, communication and social barriers. It therefore carries the implication that the physical, attitudinal, communication and social environment must change to enable people living with impairments to participate in society on an equal basis with others.