Disability

• Disability

  An impairment that may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental, or a combination of these. It can be present from birth or occur in the person's lifetime.
• Medical Model 


  • Focuses on the limitations the disability causes so seeks to find a 'cure' - medical specialists offer rehabilitative diagnosis
  • Leads to defining the person by their disability
  • Victim blaming - problem is the individual, not society
• Social Model 


  • Focus on physical and social barriers to inclusion - design of building, discriminatory attitudes, etc.
  • It is society that actually disables them, not the impairment itself
  • Social constructed - rests on ideas of 'normal'
  • May prefer 'differently able' as it's neutral instead of holding negative connotations
• Scott


  • Blind people developed a 'blind personality' after interacting with medical professionals
  • Internalised the expert's view that they should experience psychological problems when adjusting
  • Learned to rely on sighted people and become dependent - weren't aware of what they could and couldn't do
• Shakespeare 


  • Disabled people are socialised into a victim mentality
  • Learned helplessness - lack of power or control a person feels when they have a disability
• Goffman 


  • Stigmatised identities - people see themselves negatively if others have this perception of them
  • Leads to a 'master status' - transcends all other aspects of their identity and becomes their defining characteristic
  • See themselves first and foremost in terms or their impairment of master status
• Barnes 


  Media excludes disabled people so they have no representation or present 3 unhelpful, narrow stereotypes of disability:

  1. Tragic and pitiable - Tiny Tim
  2. Sinister and evil - Disney villains like Captain Hook
  3. Supper Cripples - Paralympics
• Murugami 


  • Disabled people can now construct an identity that accepts their impairment but is independent of it
  • Elements of negotiation - some choose not to define themselves as disabled, some choose to reject 'cures' like hearing aids and see their impairment as a positive thing
  • Paralympics - not necessarily a barrier to extraordinary achievements
• McRuer


  • Disabled people are reclaiming and reinventing the word 'crip' as an ironic form of self-identification that promotes in-group solidarity
  • Disability should be an identity in it's own right, not secondary to 'normal' able-bodied identities - Crip theory builds on queer theory
  • 'Cripping' is highlighting the underlying discrimination of 'neutral' ideas around disability as a form of activism
  • Some refuse well-meaning interventions, like government help, as it reinforces discrimination
• Positive disabled representation in media

  • Liz Carr - wheelchair user with high profile acting roles that are unrelated to disability
  • George Webster - first CBeebies presenter with Down's Syndrome
  • Sex Education character Isaac - central role played by a disabled actor
• Disability Discrimination Act 1995 


  • Protects disabled people's right to work, education, transport, and health services
  • Employers must make reasonable adjustments to include disabled people
  • Equality Act 2010 strengthens these rights