Social Medical Model Disability

The Medical Model regards disability as an individual problem. It promotes a traditional view of disability, that it is something to be ‘cured’, even though many conditions have no cure. The problem is seen as the disabled person and their impairment, not society, and the solution is seen as adapting the disabled person to fit the non-disabled world, often through medical intervention. Control resides firmly with professionals; choices for the individual are limited to the options provided and approved by the 'helping' expert.

The medical model of disability views disabilities as a problem that belongs to the disabled person. It is not seen as a problem that needs the concern of anyone else apart from the disabled individual affected, for example if a wheelchair user is unable to get into a building because there are steps then, the wheelchair is seen as the problem not the steps, according to the medical model.

This essay highlights and discusses models of disability reflected in two separate articles (Appendices A and B). I will identify the models of disability they represent. Both have been recently featured in the Guardian newspaper and are stories on disabled people.

The development of different models of disability proposed diverse, and often opposite views on the relationships between the disabled people and the rest of the society (White et al., 2010). The ideas and models developed from the dependence model, that existed for a long time, to independent living model and transformation of the idea of caring for disabled (Cameron, 2014, p.21), to the idea of interdependence that, to some extent, is opposite to independence model (White et al., 2010).

Looking back in the past, there have been many features, and true definitions of the word disability. In the 1970s a group called the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation defined disability as the disadvantage or restriction of activity cased by social organizations. U.S disability activists made efforts during the 1970s to form different alliances with the disability community, that protested for the inclusion of disability discrimination under the Rehabilitation act. Thereafter there was a medial model at looking at disability, that views disability as an individual shortfall. In

Understanding disability from a social model perspective can help us to recognise and challenge disabling

Society often focuses on what a person lacks in terms of disability and focuses on condition or illness or a person’s lack of ability. Medical model of disability which views adults has having an impairment or lacking in some way

There are many weaknesses of the medical model. One of the weaknesses that I am going to talk about is that in some cases people see the medical model as an insult due to the fact that the model tries to ‘fix’ people with a disability instead of making adjustments and adaptions to environments, activities etc… for them. Due to the fact that the medical model is trying to ‘fix’ tem, may seem to people that the ones with the disability cannot have a normal, healthy life like other people do who do not suffer with a disability. People may also feel like the medical model is saying that is the individual’s fault that they have a

the medical model, where disability is viewed as an impairment to be cured or prevented. This view may significantly inform the kind of service and treatment doctors provide or recommend for these individuals. In fact, researchers and doctors themselves have voiced concerns that medical practitioners do not undergo sufficient training to address disability and sexuality (Barbuto & Napolitano, 2014; Gilmore & Malcolm, 2014). Doctors need to be well informed about the issues in this area and supportive of the rights of disabled people and their health care needs, especially when it comes to their sexual health, which medical training could improve. Medical professionals also require increased education about effectively communicating with these patients, as those with disabilities have often expressed frustration over being left out of conversations with their doctors about their health care. This neglect of the needs and desires of disabled people limits not only the ability of these individuals to access appropriate care, but also restricts their options for fully autonomous decision-making and informed consent (Foley, 2012; Gilmore & Malcolm, 2014).

We live in a society that is not very accepting of individual differences. There is always a norm to strive towards. But what happens if one is unable to meet these norms due to physical or mental impairment? Those who are affected by impairments are treated differently by typical-abled members of society, stigmatized, stereotyped, or pitied, all of which can make one feel subhuman. The way that our society reacts to individuals with physical and mental impairments is what causes them to be disabled. Disability is a social problem that hinders the flourishing of those affected by impairments.

First, in the article, Sarah talked about “There are two academic models of disability: the medical model, and the social model.” (Cantor) Later, she mentioned that the “The social model thinks that disability is rooted in society and its inability to accommodate certain bodies.” (Cantor) I would agree with her on this because in our society, there are people who have disabilities from birth, they usually will be discriminated by the society as someone whom cannot conduct regular activities individually, and they usually rely on others to help them. In most common cases I have seen, those who have disabilities usually are taken care by a caretaker and they cannot conduct their daily activities on their own. This usually leads to discrimination because the society will view these individuals as a burden for the society, which the government needs to spend extra money to hire caretakers to take care these individuals.

The term disability can be defined as any person who has a physical or mental impairment that limit or prevent the person from doing one or more things associated with activities of daily living. Also, some may add that those limitations may keep a person from living a full or a normal life. There are many previous and current issues related to people with disabilities that are still arising within our society. The three unique issues that stood out the most besides the usual ramps and accessible parking issues are, the institutional bias in long-term care, the employment gap and social security disability funding for disabled people.

1.1 - Outline the history and development of the medical, social and psychosocial models of disability

In everyday communication, disability has been generalized by many individuals as some version of a biomedical perspective. According to this perspective, disability is about having functional limitations mostly caused by a health condition and some are caused by genetics. Disability can occur to anyone at any time, even some individuals are born with a disability. There are many kinds of disabilities, it can be difficulties in vision, hearing, physical, speech or language, learning, and much more. Some of these disabilities are permanent and visible but some are hidden or cannot be seen easily by others. Research and studies for different disabilities have continuously increased today for us to change the environment for individuals with disabilities to fit it in rather than having them change to the environment.

The World Health Organization ‘s (2011) report defined disability as being complex, dynamic and a multidimensional highly debated problem that is part of the human condition. With aging, a disability may become a part of elderly individual’s daily lives. The WHO (2011) report described impairments as an issue in body structure or function, limitation in activities as being