THE SOCIAL MODEL OF DISABILITY
OTT adheres to and actively promotes the Social Model of Disability. The traditional view of disability has been what is known as the Medical Model, that the problem is the person's impairment and what needs to be done is to 'cure' them or at least to fit them into the world as it is. It involves deciding everything for them.
The Technical Model is an extension of this, that technological gizmos can get around all disability problems. The technician sees the disabled person as an opportunity to create new technological wonders.
The Charity model sees the disabled person as an object of pity, whose life can only be improved by charity.
The Social Model of Disability suggests that disabled people's individual and collective disadvantage is due to a complex form of institutional discrimination as fundamental to our society as sexism, racism or heterosexism. The problem is in not understanding the world from the disabled person's point of view. The Social Model recognises disabled people as the experts in their own conditions and seeks to remove the barriers that society tries to create around them. Opportunities Through Technology is a strong advocate of the Social Model of Disability, and it underlies everything we do.
For those who wish a deeper understanding of this issue, here are some links that might help.
- The social model was best first articulated by Prof. Michael Oliver.. a later paper of his on the the social model and the individual.
- Mike Oliver is said to be the person who has done more than anyone else to put disability on the academic map in Britain. As Professor of Disability Studies at the University of Greenwich, he has produced books and papers that set out the social model of disability - the idea that it's society which disables disabled people. He is the author of several books on disability, including The Politics of Disablement (1990) and Understanding Disability (1996). Tom Shakespeare summed up his contribution as follows: "Not a household name maybe, but in turning the social model of disability from a radical slogan into a coherent approach to the world, he has changed the lives of disabled people in more ways than most." (from www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/yourspace/gdbprofiles.shtml#oliver).
- The person who articulated our use of the social model most strongly was our friend and trustee, Phil Miller, who we miss very much. Here is an article about him and his life and beliefs.
- "Disability Awareness in Action" have a good take on Social Model or Unsociable Muddle?
- Enough! Just Google "social model of disability" and stand back.
Anne has severe cerebral palsy. Now in her late seventies, she has spent her life in a wheel-chair, totally dependent on carers, unable to walk and with almost no use of her hands, and only able to speak very slowly, indistinctly and with great difficulty. We set Anne up with a computer controlled by a single switch mounted on a wooden arm, that she can nudge with her chin. Using some excellent software called The Grid, she can now word process, surf the Internet and send emails. It is the first time in her life she has been able to set anything down on paper. She is now writing her life story, revealing memories from her childhood, and has gained her first ever academic qualifications. She is also able to use email to communicate with relatives living abroad, helping to cut through the terrible isolation imposed by her condition
D-Day veteran Eddie Slater is Chairman of the
Normandy Veterans´ Association and is also
editor of NVA News. OTT is supporting Eddie to
overcome the limitations imposed by very
limited vision.
