About Us


Home News About Us Disability Our Funders Our Staff Type of Housing Housing Photos Contact Us Links Registration Form	Disability
The Social Model of Disability The service outlined in this document is framed within the social rather than the medical model of disability. Within the medical model, disability is located within the individual and is a direct consequence of impairment. For instance, wheelchair users have housing problems because they cannot climb stairs, people with visual impairments have transport problems because they cannot read bus timetables. The most recent medical model definition of disability is that contained in The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995. The Act says: A person has a disability for the purposes of this Act if he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse affect on his ability to carry out normal day-today activities. The DDA confuses 'physical or mental impairment' with 'disability', when the latter is really about questions of disadvantage and discrimination. The DDA definition was based on the International Classification of Impairment, Disability and Handicap (ICIDH) a three-tiered definition which is rooted in the medical model. According to the ICIDH, impairment means lacking all or part of a limb, or having a defective limb, organ or mechanism of the body; disability is the loss or reduction of functional ability; and handicap is seen as the disadvantage or restriction of activity caused by disability. In contrast, the social model was developed by disabled people themselves and is used by the Independent Living Movement and its umbrella organisation, the British Council of Disabled People. The social model assumes that disability is created by the physical, attitudinal and organisational barriers that people with impairments face in a society which fails to respond appropriately to their normal every-day needs. The problems which disabled people face are, therefore, not a direct consequence of impairment, but lie in the social disadvantage, discrimination and social exclusion which they have to overcome. Thus, it is the inaccessibility of housing which creates problems for wheelchair users. It is the inaccessibility of timetable information which disables people with visual impairments. Within this model there is a clear distinction between the meaning of impairment and disability. This document uses the following definitions of 'disability' and 'impairment' which have been developed by disabled people themselves; impairment is the lack of part of, or all of a limb, or having a defective limb, organ or mechanism of the body, while disability is the loss or limitation of opportunities that prevents people who have impairments from taking part in the normal life of the community on an equal level with others due to physical and social barriers.
©　copyright：　DPHSR

Disability

The Social Model of Disability

The service outlined in this document is framed within the social rather than the medical model of disability.

Within the medical model, disability is located within the individual and is a direct consequence of impairment. For instance, wheelchair users have housing problems because they cannot climb stairs, people with visual impairments have transport problems because they cannot read bus timetables.

The most recent medical model definition of disability is that contained in The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995. The Act says: A person has a disability for the purposes of this Act if he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse affect on his ability to carry out normal day-today activities.

The DDA confuses 'physical or mental impairment' with 'disability', when the latter is really about questions of disadvantage and discrimination. The DDA definition was based on the International Classification of Impairment, Disability and Handicap (ICIDH) a three-tiered definition which is rooted in the medical model. According to the ICIDH, impairment means lacking all or part of a limb, or having a defective limb, organ or mechanism of the body; disability is the loss or reduction of functional ability; and handicap is seen as the disadvantage or restriction of activity caused by disability.

In contrast, the social model was developed by disabled people themselves and is used by the Independent Living Movement and its umbrella organisation, the British Council of Disabled People. The social model assumes that disability is created by the physical, attitudinal and organisational barriers that people with impairments face in a society which fails to respond appropriately to their normal every-day needs.

The problems which disabled people face are, therefore, not a direct consequence of impairment, but lie in the social disadvantage, discrimination and social exclusion which they have to overcome. Thus, it is the inaccessibility of housing which creates problems for wheelchair users. It is the inaccessibility of timetable information which disables people with visual impairments.

Within this model there is a clear distinction between the meaning of impairment and disability.

This document uses the following definitions of 'disability' and 'impairment' which have been developed by disabled people themselves; impairment is the lack of part of, or all of a limb, or having a defective limb, organ or mechanism of the body, while disability is the loss or limitation of opportunities that prevents people who have impairments from taking part in the normal life of the community on an equal level with others due to physical and social barriers.