The idea of disability can mean different things to different people. Some may only see a person as disabled if they have obvious outward and physical signs that lead them to be labelled as ‘disabled’.
It is often, in my experience a somewhat fluid way of being when talking about disability or being disabled. If disability is seen as a purely physical construct, but here are a few more thoughts of how disability might be defined.
Key Models of Disability
- Medical Model: Views disability as a health condition or deficit located within an individual that requires medical care, treatment, or rehabilitation.
- Social Model: Views disability as the result of a mismatch between a person’s body or mind and an unaccommodating physical, social, or attitudinal environment.
The medical model above is probably the one most people would be familiar with as how they would define a state as being ‘disabled’.
The social model above is interesting as it is a model which is a social construct, in that it is the environment in which a person finds themselves that can be more – or less – disabling than any health condition may be. For my part, I feel that often it is the lack of thought given to people who may not appear outwardly disabled. That the lack of provision for a person or persons’ particular needs are not catered for and that is in itself disabling. In their own environment, designed to cater for their individual needs, the person may be high functioning in their own environment and only feel or seem disabled when out in the community.
Here are just a few examples of how our community may be responsible, at least in part for making others feel disabled.
- Lack of provision of accessible seating. Why do businesses have such low chairs in their waiting area? I have struck many with this, one being my daughter’s lawyer’s office. They are really low and I always struggle to get up, which is not fun in front of young, very professionally dressed young lawyers! I mentioned it to them last time I was in there and suggested that they get some higher chairs. They responded, ‘Oh yeh, I never thought of that!’ to which I responded, ‘Now that you have, perhaps you can make sure you have appropriate seating for elderly and others challenged by low chairs!”
- Chairs with arms in a cafe. I put my hand up, that I have ‘blossomed’ over the past few years. So many cafes have chairs with arms on and some cafes only have chairs with arms with no options for a more accommodating chair without arms. So, if a person cannot sit in the chair that has arms, there is nowhere for them to sit. So, if you are a lady with a big booty (bottom, butt, bum) it may mean that you can’t have anything there because you can’t fit in the only chairs they have! This is more frequent than you think. It can be very embarrassing and I speak of personal experiences, when you go to lower yourself into a waiting chair and you realise that you just won’t be able to fit. It is embarrassing then, to have to leave the cafe and go elsewhere merely because the chairs are not available to people with larger posteriors!
- Heavy doors that open out. I have been told that there is a health provider, that has a great ramp for getting up to their rooms. However, the problem is that when a person gets up the ramp and needs to open the door, that it opens outward. For one thing, those doors are very, very heavy so that is a challenge itself. The other is that open outwards means that if you are in a wheelchair or using any kind of aid, it can be extremely difficult to manage walking sticks or a walker and try to open the door.
More people with disabilities should be consulted when planning and decorating areas with public access, so that physical challenges do not preclude a person from accessing and enjoying physical equipment, buildings and services.
