Editing Social model of disability (section)

{{Short description|Societal failure to adapt to disabilities}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
[[File:Let's Raise the Roof - A Social Model of Disability - a Welsh Government video - 2021.webm|thumb|A short government advisory animation on the social model of disability]]
{{Disability|theory}}
{{Discrimination sidebar|Related}}
The '''social model of disability''' identifies systemic barriers, derogatory attitudes, and [[social exclusion]] (intentional or inadvertent), which make it difficult or impossible for disabled people to attain their valued [[Capability approach#Key terms|functionings]]. The social model of disability diverges from the dominant [[medical model of disability]], which is a functional analysis of the body as a machine to be fixed in order to conform with normative conceptions of [[quality of life]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Paley|first=John|title=The Cartesian melodrama in nursing|journal=Nursing Philosophy|date=1 October 2002|volume=3|issue=3|pages=189–192|doi=10.1046/j.1466-769X.2002.00113.x}}</ref> The medical model of disability carries with it a negative connotation, with negative labels associated with disabled people.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barton |first=Len |title=Disability and Society |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=9781315841984 |edition=1st |location=London, United Kingdom |pages=3–17}}</ref> The social model of disability seeks to challenge power imbalances within society between differently-abled people and seeks to redefine what disability means as a diverse expression of human life.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Lid |first=Inger Marie |date=June 2014 |title=Universal Design and disability: an interdisciplinary perspective |journal=Disability and Rehabilitation |volume=36 |issue=16 |pages=1344–1349 |doi=10.3109/09638288.2014.931472 |pmid=24954388 |via=Taylor & Francis}}</ref> While [[Physiology|physical]], sensory, intellectual, or [[psychological]] variations may result in individual functional differences, these do not necessarily have to lead to [[disability]] unless society fails to take account of and include people intentionally with respect to their individual needs. The origin of the approach can be traced to the 1960s, and the specific term emerged from the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

The social model of disability is based on a distinction between the terms ''impairment'' and ''disability''. In this model, the word ''impairment'' is used to refer to the actual attributes (or lack of attributes) that affect a person, such as the inability to walk or breathe independently. It seeks to redefine ''disability'' to refer to the restrictions caused by society when it does not give equitable social and structural support according to disabled peoples' structural needs.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Pam Thomas |author2=Lorraine Gradwell |author3=Natalie Markham |title=Defining Impairment within the Social Model of Disability |url=https://disability-studies.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/library/thomas-pam-Defining-Impairment-within-the-Social-Model-of-Disability.pdf |access-date=2012-11-10 |work=GMCDP's Coalition Magazine |date=July 1997 |publisher=Centre for Disability Studies |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307222646/https://disability-studies.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/library/thomas-pam-Defining-Impairment-within-the-Social-Model-of-Disability.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> As a simple example, if a person is unable to climb stairs, the medical model focuses on making the individual physically able to climb stairs. The social model tries to make stair-climbing unnecessary, such as by making society adapt to their needs, and assist them by replacing the stairs with a wheelchair-accessible ramp.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Social model of disability |url=https://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/social-model-of-disability/ |access-date=2022-07-31 |website= Scope UK |language=en-gb |archive-date=31 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731003748/https://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/social-model-of-disability/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the social model, the person remains disabled with respect to climbing stairs, but the disability is negligible and no longer disabling in that scenario, because the person can get to the same locations without climbing any stairs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Winter |first=Jerry Allan |date=2003 |title=The Development of the Disability Rights Movement as a Social Problem Solver |url=https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/399 |s2cid-access=free |journal=Disability Studies Quarterly |volume=23 |issue=1 |doi=10.18061/dsq.v23i1.399 |s2cid=142986957 |access-date=31 July 2022 |archive-date=15 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615130035/http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/399 |url-status=live |doi-access=free }}</ref>

It celebrates a non-conformist approach to the concept of disability and confronts deficit thinking of disability, which is argued to sit alongside the lines of activism and identity of pride for individuals with disabilities.<ref name=":1" />