13 The Social Model
In 1975 the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation and The Disability Alliance 49 discussed what we now know as the Social Model for disability50. This model has had a substantial impact on the community and created a new approach to the way disability is discussed; it also impacted the way some disabled people perceived themselves and their place in the world. The Social Model considers the barriers a person may face due to their impairment, but primarily looks at the social obstacles that create segregation and they define those as the disabling factor51. It is a revolutionary new way of looking at what can be possible for a disabled person without creating flawed assumptions and low expectations. This model does not see the person's condition as the disabling force; rather it looks at what realistically and pragmatically can be done to help the person manoeuvre through society’s blockades for it is these inequalities that prevent total social contribution and inclusion.
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The Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation and The Disability Alliance, The Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation and The Disability Alliance discuss Fundamental Principles of Disability: Being a summary of the discussion held on 22nd November, 1975 and containing commentaries from each organisation. (1997) <https://disability-stucheies.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/library/UPIASfundamental-principles.pdf.> [Accessed 27 November 2020] (pp. 4- 14). 50 Scope, Social model of disability. [n.d.] <https://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/social-model-of-disability/> [Accessed 27 November 2020] 51 Scope, Social model, Online video, YouTube, 19 October 2018 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m_EbRH1aF4&feature=emb_title > [Accessed 12 January 2021]
