From personal tragedy to social oppression: the medical model and social theories of disability

Abstract

Over the last decade the medical model with its individualized, psychologized and medicalized account of disability has been rejected in favour of a sociological account that views disabil.ity as an oppressive social creation. In these later accounts, the focus shifts from individual impairment to the disabling effects of social organization and structures designed around, and for, non-disabled people. This paper compares and contrasts the conceptual and theoretical approaches of both these models. In the light of these models, disability social policy, particularly as it affects the employment of disabled people, is examined.

Children and disability: Special or included

“…There are different ideas, opinions and beliefs in this area. A particularly important issue is the wider social context in which, outside of disability communities, disability is predominantly seen as an issue of personal deficit or illness (Shakespeare, 1994;Sullivan, 1991). On the basis of this view it is seen as justifiable to exclude disabled people from mainstream schools because the disabled are deemed to be 'not normal' and therefore in need of 'special' treatments in terms of curriculum content and teaching strategies.…”

“…They are more likely to see disability as arising from disabling environments that deny them physical access to settings readily available to others, that do not support self determination for disabled people and that disable people by denying them the same educational and employment opportunities that are available to those not seen as disabled (Oliver, 1989;Sullivan, 1991).…”

“…However, despite the commitment and effort of everyone involved, this is not the case and disabled people often experience difficulties in areas of employment, social acceptance and in having their voice heard (Minister for Disability Issues, 2001;Sullivan, 1991). It is in this context that some parents, teachers (from special and mainstream education) and disability advocates are working toward an alternative that would end the exclusion of disabled children from others in the education system and see them included as of right in local schools that have been transformed so that they have the understandings, values and resources to teach them well.…”

“…This is clearly a major project requiring that present mainstream education develops curricula, school services and teaching strategies that do in fact cater for 'all' children, including those with disabilities. A most important part of this development would involve educating teachers about disability theory (Oliver, 1989;Shakespeare, 1996;Sullivan, 1991) and about theories of equity and social justice for all children (Fraser, 1997;Gewirtz, 1998). The goal would be for educators to understand the role of cultures in assigning meanings and values to people's differences and in creating and sustaining the unquestioned assumptions that result in oppression and exclusion of disabled people and others in minority positions.…”

Exploring the multimodal communication and agency of children in an autism classroom

“…The medical model of disability foregrounds the issue of individual impairment, with a subsequent emphasis on individual remediation (Sullivan, 1991). This model was touched upon in Chapter 1 where I noted that 'special needs education' in the UK has been critiqued for its uncritical acceptance of within-child deficit models of disability (Hodge & Runswick-Cole, 2009).…”