Disabled people face huge barriers preventing them from living normal independent lives – physical barriers and barriers caused by bad attitudes and lack of knowledge. As a social model charity, we believe it is these barriers that disable people, not their medical condition or impairment.
Yesterday’s Thinking – The Medical Model
For a long time, people’s thinking around disability was dominated by medical opinions. Doctors took the view that individuals were born with, or developed, conditions which could be medically diagnosed. Those individuals were regarded as disabled because of what is then called their handicap or disability– what’s ‘wrong with them’.
Under the medical model, people become ‘the handicapped’ or ‘people with disabilities’ or ‘differently-abled’. These terms all underline that the person’s disability is something they have which is a problem for them – a problem to be solved with medicines and aids.
Today’s Thinking – The Social Model
For the last 20 years or so, Britain and most European countries have been following the social model of disability. The social model points out that our whole society is constructed for people without physical, sensory, cognitive or learning impairments. It is the barriers placed in the path of people with impairments that really disable them, not the impairment they have.
The classic example of the social model is a wheelchair-user at the foot of a flight of steps. The medical model said that the person is handicapped by their inability to walk up the steps. The social model says that the problem is the steps – the lack of a ramp is what disables the person, not the fact they are a wheelchair-user.
The three main social barriers which disable people with impairments are:
- Physical barriers – such as steps, lack of signers, no audio loop or EasyRead documents
- Organisational barriers – such as working methods which make it hard or impossible for disabled people to apply or join in
- Attitudinal barriers – such as making assumptions about people and their abilities, aspirations and hopes.
BuDS’ aim, and the aim of all social model organisations, is to remove barriers so that people with impairments are not disabled.
New Thinking – New Language
Language is an important way of highlighting that you and your organisation have embraced the Social Model, and thus are an ally of disabled people, championing inclusive policies and being Fair4All.
In 2012, as part of the Inspired by 2012 project, we created simple guidance on how to use language in a way that shows you follow the Social Model, and are an ally of disabled people. In 2022, as part of Remembering 2012, we updated the guidance. Download a copy by clicking the link below, or call us on 01494 211179 if you need it in a different format.