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Challenging traditional models of disability
Historically, people with disabilities have been treated as different from mainstream society. As a result, people with disabilities were encouraged to "fix" their differences through medical interventions. Researchers Harlan Hahn1,2 and Carol Gill3 call this the medical model.
As a reaction to the medical model in which disability is viewed as a "sickness", leaders in the field of disability studies and disabled activists have adopted, instead, an interactional model. According to Carol Gill, director of the Chicago Institute of Disability Research, the interactional model argues that disability derives from the interaction between the individual and society and that the remedy for the disability-related problems is a change in the interaction between the individual and society.
Under the interactional model, disability is viewed not as a deficiency but as a kind of difference. The interactional model promotes the idea that individuals would not need to be "fixed" if society were physically and programmatically accessible.
In other words, the problem is not with the student who uses a mobility device to access buildings, but with the interaction between the student and a building that lacks a ramp.
| Medical Model | Interactional Model |
|---|---|
| Disability is a deficiency or abnormality. | Disability is a difference. Being disabled, in itself, is neutral. |
| Disability resides in the individual. | Disability derives from the interaction between the individual and society. |
| The remedy is cure or normalization of the individual. | The remedy is a change in the interaction between the individual and society. |
| The agent of remedy is the professional. | The agent of remedy can be the individual, an advocate, etc. |
The development of disability studies, which examines disability in social, cultural, and political contexts, has added greatly to the conversation about disability issues and highlighted the need to develop teaching methods that address the needs of all students. Visit Teaching Students with Disabilities: Universal Instructional Design for ways to make your classes accessible to all students.
Additional Resources about Disability Studies
Society for Disability Studies maintains a set of links to academic programs, disability organizations, journals, policy, and other information.The Disability Social History Project
The Review of Disability Studies: an International Journal, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa
About Disability's bibliography
Linton, Simi. 1998. Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity. New York: New York University Press.
1 Hahn, H. (1985). Toward a politics of disability: Definitions, disciplines and policies. The Social Science Journal, 2294), 87-105.
2 Hahn, H. (1988). The politics of physical differences: Disability and discrimination. Journal of Social Issues, 44(1), 39-47.
3 Gill, C. (1987). A new social perspective on disability and its implication for rehabilitation. In F.S. Cromwell (Ed.), Socialcultural implications in treatment planning in occupational therapy. (pp. 49-55). New York: Haworth Press
