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Re: Social v. Medical Model Terminology
Arnold,
 
this is not a rant: it a perfectly reasonable explanation of why "disabled people/students" is acceptable and "students with disabilities" or "tell me about your disabilities" is not acceptable. The social model places the locus of responsibility firmly on society - on all of us - to become more inclusive and to remove barriers.
 
The social model encourages thinking about access requirements and how these can be met and avoids fruitless discussion of medical history.
 
ATB
 
Claire
 

From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. on behalf of Maiden, Arnold
Sent: Fri 25/04/2008 20:03
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Social v. Medical Model Terminology

Oh dear this is always so difficult to respond to as it deals with ownership.

I am disabled but I am disabled by the way society decides to do its business not by my by my (multiple) impairments. To explain - if I am a wheelchair user then my wheelchair does not disable me it enables me, I am not wheelchair bound I am a wheelchair user; what disables me is the lack of facilities to get in shops, to go to the loo, etc. I am sure everyone on here understands all these arguments.

So on to language

I am sure that we all understand that using terms like:
The Disabled
The Blind
The Deaf
Dyslexics
etc
are best avoided as they lump people  together without any consideration of the person's individuality.

Describing someone as a person with a disability sounds "user friendly" but it is wrong and it is wrong because it subscribes to a medical model that places the ownership (and responsibility) with the disabled person and not society!

Rant over and I hope that this helps understanding

Arnold Maiden
Assessor & Assistive Technology Adviser
Leeds Metropolitan University

________________________________

From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. on behalf of Katy Mann
Sent: Fri 25/04/2008 16:00
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Social v. Medical Model Terminology



Dear All,



I know this one comes up periodically but I would be interested in what people know to be the latest thinking on this. At a meeting this week a member of staff said in a meeting for an external organisation, she was told that the correct terminology  was 'disabled people' and not 'people with disabilties'  when she used the term 'people with disabilties' she  sent on disability awareness training!



My understanding was that the most up to date term was 'people with disabilities' (and that this fits in with the social model)  because you are a person first. My colleague was told that it now 'Disabled people' is 'correct' because a person is 'disabled' by society.



While I believe that use of appropriate terminology is important, I am wary of becoming a hostage to 'PC' ness but would be interested on hearing what the latest collective thinking is regarding appropriate terminology.



Many thanks. Enjoy the weekend.



Katy





Katy Mann
Disability Adviser (West End sites)
Room CG80, Chiltern Building
University of Westminster
35 Marylebone Road
London NW1 5LS
Tel: 020 7915 5456 Fax: 020 7915 5439
www.wmin.ac.uk/disability
 




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