Models of disability are defined as tools for explaining impairment as well as providing a basis upon which society and health organizations can devise pragmatic strategies to meet the needs of disabled people. These pragmatic strategies are especially for young children who at their early stage experience severe social and cultural exclusion in their society. It is important to mention here that models of disability provide an insight into the behavior, attitude, and prejudices, and how these aspects affect the overall development of disabled people (Bruntix and Schalock, 2010). This manuscript will focus on the various aspects of two models of disability: social constructivist and Medical or deficit models of disability. Both the social and medical model of disability are instrumental in fostering education about disability and inclusion of people living with disability in the community regardless of the differing principles between the two models.
The Medical (Disease) Model
According to Baglierei, 2017, the medical model is categorized in two dimensions i.e. the pathological dimension and the normal dimension. This model mainly focuses on the pathological dimension which discusses the biological problems affecting an individual including the nature and effects of the diseases. The medical model is founded on the principle that irrespective of where a person is from and their culture or belief, good health is better than illness. It distinguishes pathological conditions from normal ones.
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Baglierei goes ahead to justify the definition of disabled persons as the “innate conditions that limit their ability to participate in communities and learn in the general classroom setting” (Baglierei, 2017). Before the innate conditions are said to hinder the ability of an individual, Baglierei encourages the use of a scientific approach in the determination and diagnosis of the deviance in the person. Proper diagnosis of the deviance will correctly lead to appropriate expert guidance which should be undertaken simultaneously with treatment. The treatment and guidance will be instrumental in curing or remedying the source of the abnormality.
A major advantage of the medical model is that it can be used in the societal setting to reduce moral stigma. Most abnormalities are negatively perceived in the society thereby making the disabled persons to live in shame or blame. Medicalization removes this perceived shame, blame, and moral stigma by providing an opportunity for the person to seek treatment for the source of the deviance. As a result, communities are taught to be more accepting of the disabled by providing social and clinical information on the disability thus increasing understanding.
Social Constructivist
The social model of disability focuses on how a society’s central values, social and economic configurations affect its perception to people with disability. This model aims at looking at disability as an intricate interaction between the cultural, social and physical (body) environment and how these environments affect the quality of life of the disabled. A common perspective of the social model that is pragmatic to education and inclusion is the sociopolitical orientation.
Sociopolitical orientation led to the establishment of the Disability Rights Movement. This was inspired by the impact the medical model had on the society as well as the people living with disability. In the 1960s after the medical model of disability brought forth information about disability to the society, people living with disability saw it prudent to go ahead and demand for their rights as members of the society. They wanted full control and access to the society and they believed they could achieve this by civil action and advocacy. This lead to the development of Disability Rights Movement (Baglierei, 2017).
The difference between impairment and disability has been used to critique this sociopolitical model. Baglierei, 2017, quotes a 2002 article by Thomas and Corker that argues that social interaction gives the society the understanding and mandate of whether a person’s mind and body is impaired or disabled. With this in mind, this model provides the definition of disability as a word that is coined as an initial meaning that the society makes about a body. Furthermore, the society merely identifying or labeling a person as disabled or impaired is an act of power thereby prompting the inclusion of the cultural, relational and minority models into the social model. How a society brands a body normal or abnormal determines the relationship between disability and ability (Baglierei, 2017).
Relationship between the Medical Model and Social Model
A common similarity of the two models is that they both focus on fostering education of the society about disability and inclusion of the disabled in the society. The medical model achieves this by diagnosis and medicalization of people with disability so as to cure or remedy their deviance. As a result, the community is taught on the disability thus dramatically reducing the social stigma of the condition. On the other hand, the social model of disability manages inclusion and education by learning how the political, social and cultural characteristics affect the quality of life of the people living with disability in a particular community. This information is then used to impact change in the society through various means such as forming movements and unions for the disabled in the workplace or the society.
The main difference between the medical and the social model is that while the medical model focuses on diagnosing the pathology of the disability in the individual, the social model focuses on the social, political and cultural factors that surround the disabled person. The medical model focuses on diagnosing the source of the abnormality in the person with the disability, providing adequate treatment and guidance in order to cure or remedy that source. This model ensures that the society understands the clinical and social implications of the condition and how it can be treated to reduce or curtail social stigma against a disabled person. On the other hand, the social model particularly focuses on how the cultural, social and political environment affects how a disabled person is viewed in a community. The social model emphasizes on how these factors affect the quality of the life of the disabled.
How Models of Disability Work in Everyday Life
Currently, societies are changing to appreciate inclusive education by presuming competence. This has been instrumental in ensuring that the disabled are incorporated into the society and their ‘abnormality’ can be seen as somewhat normal. Presuming competence and inclusive education is vital in promoting societal acceptance of the disabled and preventing stigmatization. However, it is unfortunate that even with presuming competence, the disabled are still teased by their ‘normal’ schoolmates and this disrupts their adaptation into the learning curriculum (Biklen and Burke, 2006). This condition is quite common in our society whereby in inclusive education, a crippled student will be bullied by his fellow classmates or treated differently and inferior irrespective of how he or she performs academically.
Practices in Current Summer School Placements
In deciding summer school placement for disabled children, it is necessary to ensure that they are spending much of their academic time with normal children. An Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committee, moreover, needs to be formed to identify how disabled children are improving their mental and physical capabilities by being with other students and preceptors. This will be in accordance to the court decree in Youngberg v. Romeo, 1982 which states that decisions made by the appropriate professionals are entitled to a presumption of correctness (Biklen, 1988).
Conclusion
Society in general and health organizations, consider disability in a different way. Impairments affect how a person is viewed by the society thereby influencing their ability to carry out their daily tasks. However, disabled members of the society have the right to engage in activities like everyone else. It is so unfortunate that after all is said and done, the society still views people with disability as different from the rest and hinder them from achieving their goals. This is cemented by the fact that the society sees people with disability as pitiful. The person is seen as an object of pity because they are suffering from the disability, they are unaware of their disability, they will not be able to grow to their full potential, and they are blameless because of their condition (Baglierei, 2017). Because of this pity and stigma, the disabled members of the society are not able to fully live their lives and incorporate themselves in their societies.
References
Baglierei, S. (2017). Cultures of Exclusion. Disability and Society : 33-58
Baglierei, S. (2017). Perspectives of Disability. Disability and Society : 17-32
Biklen D. (1988). The Myth of Clinical Judgment. Journal of Social Issues; 44(1): 127-140
Biklen, D. And Burke, J. (2006). Presuming Competence. Equity and Excellence in Education; 39 (2): 166-175
Bruntinx, W. H., & Schalock, R. L. (2010). Models of Disability, Quality Of Life, and Individualized Supports: Implications for Professional Practice in Intellectual Disability. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 7 (4), 283-294.
