Differing Models of Disability

Introduction

The area of disability rights is a complex, delicate one that invokes much passion in its discourse. As this area attracts increased awareness, attention must be paid by Irish legislators to the models and definitions it employs of ‘disability’, and what such definitions signify.

This chapter will discuss differing models of disability, the definition of ‘disability’ in Irish law, and will conclude by examining the case study of ‘invisible’ disabilities.

I. Differing Models of Disability

While significant progress has been made towards stigmas associated with disability, definition of the term remains relatively contentious. This is largely to do with the conflicting models of disability developed over the past century. State responses and provisions for persons with disability reflect to varying degrees the models of disability that have either been explicitly accepted or implicitly adopted. In exploring the unique frameworks of models of disability, this section will also assess its impact on the everyday lives of persons with disabilities.

A primary purpose of implementing disability models is so that an effective structure can be devised to aid and meet the needs of persons with disabilities. These models facilitate the identification and understanding of disability in a manner intelligible to policy-makers. However, a number of these models have been constructed and dictated without the involvement of persons with disabilities, resultingly non-disabled persons have imposed definitions upon persons with disabilities.

The Medical Model

A prime example of this is the controversial approach of the medical model of disability, that views all disabilities ‘as the result of some physiological impairment due to damage or a disease process’.

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Historically, disabled persons have been institutionalized largely due to the approaches deemed suitable by professionals engaged in medical practice. The overarching agenda in the medical

1 A. Llewellyn and K. Hogan, ‘The Use and Abuse of Models of Disability’ (2000) 15(1) Disability & Society 157.

model is rooted around the idea that an individual has a physical, mental, or intellectual impairment. Disability is then viewed as an illness to be “cured” by medical intervention.

Those with disabilities, under this medical model, have often felt ‘excluded, undervalued, pressurised to fit a questionable norm, and/or treated as if they were globally incapacitated’.2 This model has been central to the development of specialised institutions removing persons with disabilities from the general populace. Yet, due to its easily comprehensible diagnostic system, it remains the dominant narrative in shaping the public's perception towards disability.

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The Social Model

While the social model of disability is certainly not free from criticism, it comes as a response, partially from persons with disabilities, as a response to the failings of the medical model. This model of disability is seen as progressive as it recognizes that disability is rooted with society’s failure to provide adequate services and ensure that the needs of disabled people are considered.

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The foremost argument considered within the realm of the social model relates to the distinction between the meanings of ‘impairment’ and ‘disability’. It is argued widely that impairment, relating to how bodies function, is not the disabling factor. Rather, disability is a product of how society is organized, and results in disabled people being unnecessarily isolated and excluded from full participation in society.

With the distinction between these two terms clarified, disability is now being seen as a politicized issue that requires a response from those with considerable power in society. The social model thus holds those with power in the design of society accountable, and helps us recognize how disability is contextual, rather than a fact attributable to the individual.

Physical barriers directly relate to the issue of an environment preventing equal access. As defined by Inclusion London, a renowned charity supporting disabled organisations, these barriers range from ‘stairs/steps, narrow corridors and doorways, kerbs, inaccessible toilets,

2 Sara Goering, ‘Rethinking Disability: The Social Disability and Chronic Disease’ (2015) 8(2) Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine 134. 3 Julie F. Smart, ‘The Power of Models of Disability’ (2009) 75(2) Journal of Rehabilitation 3. 4 Mike Oliver, ‘The Social Model of Disability: Thirty Years On’ (2013) 28(7) Disability & Society 1024.