Laurance and List members
Laurance you asked
> I wonder Felicity, whether you ever feel that your experiences and your
> world view conflicts with this thing called the "social model"?
> The rhetorical nature of this question reflects my own feeling that only
> *some* subjectivity is affirmed by the theory.
My understanding of the social model of disability is that it argues that disability is a social construct and as Mark says it promotes civil rights, argues for the removal of discriminatory barriers and politicises issues of access. If one accepts that disability is finite and that handicap is the disadvantage that is presently associated with disability then I believe that the social model would have greater relevance when viewed from the perspective of handicap as a social construct. In accepting disability as finite you are accepting the limitations associated with the particular disability and social model theory then comes into its own as to how willing society is to level the playing field by supporting those limitations. For instance you could argue successfully that all people with a disability should be educated in mainstream schools. This is a civil rights issue that removes discriminatory barriers and the school agrees to ensure that physical access to its premises are in place. The school for all intents and purposes is now accessible to all people with a disability. This may be a very satisfactory result for a wheelchair user whose disability identifies the physical limitation of mobility and whose handicap is the built environment. The playing field has been levelled in this instance. However, if you are a wheelchair user whose physical limitations are such that you cannot "self propel" and you require assistance in meeting all your basic bodily needs, providing you with a wheelchair and providing physical access to the school without providing a person to propel your wheelchair or support the full limitations of your disability does not address the handicap that results from your disability. Addressing handicap is an issue of resources and social consequence. So in applying the social model to address handicap one must look at what outcome one wants to achieve. In the case of education one would presume that learning, acquiring knowledge and skills is the outcome. So how do we facilitate this for all people with a disability? How do we identify what are appropriate ways of learning and to what purpose will the knowledge be put? Tertiary education, employment, life skills? We look at the individual, support the limitation in order to address the handicap and work towards maximising the potential (no matter what that potential may be) of the individual. My daughter and son both have the same syndrome and both have the same disabilities, however, because they are individuals they have different skills and abilities, and different preferences for how they utilise the skills and abilities they do share. For example both had limited reading skills and dificulty reading, however, I noticed that Jacqueline's interest in food allowed her to read a recipe without difficulty and David's interest in things mechanical, and Harley Davidsons in particular, allowed him to read words he did not understand elsewhere. Horses for courses and different strokes for different folks, we have heaps of recipe and Harley Davidson books, plus many more, in our home and both have broadened their reading interests.
Could the social model as I describe be applied in my case? Yes as whilst I have no disability I do have socially imposed limitations and handicaps as a result of the limitations. In order to change our lives firstly my daughter, son and myself need to be each viewed as individuals within a family, instead of collectively as a family of three, and each of us need our individual needs for support met. This is where the social comes in - is society prepared to do that?
Does this help
Felicity
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