The concept of the social and medical model of disability is one I’m fairly new to. I’ve recently been trying to challenge my own perception of my disability and learning about this has really made me think a lot about the way I view my life.
If you are unfamiliar with the idea of the social and medical model of disability I’m going to briefly explain it. Basically, the social model of disability is the idea that disabled people are challenged by the environment around us and that rather than being disabled by the physical or mental impairment we have, we are disabled by how society is constructed. The medical model of disability is the opposite of this, it’s the idea that we are disabled by the physical or mental impairment that they have, this idea also heavily focuses on the need to “be cured” which is something I have lots of issues with.
I very much spent my younger years living in the medical model. I wanted to be cured because I think it was a coping method, if things in my social life weren’t doing well I would automatically blame my disability. I wholeheartedly believed that if I was able bodied my life would be perfect. This is obviously a terrible mindset to be in and was a harmful place to be especially at the age of 9 or 10. My disability, Cerebral Palsy has no cure and is probably never going to have a cure. This is something I’ve learned to live with, I’m place now where I still struggle to accept it but I’m striving to reach a point mentally where I can honestly say I do not want to be “cured” because I feel like self acceptance is something that should be preached more, especially to disabled people.
As a 15 year old, I’m really trying to break down the medical model of disability in my mind and change the way I view my disability. The social model is healthier for both disabled people and able bodied people. As much as I hate people sugar coating disability, I think it’s important that able bodied people are taught that disabled people are valid and if you don’t accommodate this person’s differences then you are the problem. It’s so much easier for able bodied people to be taught to accept and accommodate then for disabled people to have it ingrained into them that they’re the problem. The social model does have its flaws though, because of my disability I experience a lot of pain and weakness in my muscles and as much as I’d like to blame it on carrying the weight of society’s ignorance, I admit that even if society accommodated my disability perfectly, I would still deal with the effects of my disability. So even if everyone lived by the social model (which would be lovely) I would still consider myself disabled.
In summary, these are the two ways that disability can be viewed. The social model is definitely more beneficial to the disability community but it’s also ok if people feel more comfortable in the medical model. The way you view your disability is personal and however you want your disability to be accommodated should be respected.