Monthly Archives May 2016

Models of Disability

Definitions and the language used are important because they form the basis of models. Models are not scientific or philosophical theories or ideologies. They are merely ways of looking at things or situations. There are two predominant models of disability commonly in use in the UK; the Medical Model and the Social Model.
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Medical Model

Under the Medical Model, disabled people are defined by their illness or medical condition. They are disempowered: medical diagnoses are used to regulate and control access to social benefits, housing, education, leisure and employment. The Medical Model promotes the views of a disabled person as dependent and needing to be cured or cared for, and it justifies the way in which disabled people have been systematically excluded from society. Control resides firmly with professionals. Choices for the individual are limited to the options provided and approved by the ‘helping’ expert. The Medical Model is sometimes known as the ‘individual model’
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