The
Medical Model of Disability:
The medical model is presented as viewing disability as a problem of the
person, directly caused by disease, trauma, or other health condition which therefore requires sustained medical care provided
in the form of individual treatment by professionals. In the medical model, management of the disability is aimed at a "cure,"
or the individual’s adjustment and behavioural change that would lead to an "almost-cure" or effective cure.
In the medical model, medical care is viewed as the main issue, and at the political level, the principal response is that
of modifying or reforming healthcare policy.
The Social Model of Disability:
The
social model of disability sees the issue of "disability" as a socially created problem and a matter of the full
integration of individuals into society. In this model, disability is not an attribute of an individual, but rather a complex
collection of conditions, many of which are created by the social environment. Hence, the management of the problem requires
social action and is the collective responsibility of society at large to make the environmental modifications necessary for
the full participation of people with disabilities in all areas of social life. The issue is both cultural and ideological,
requiring individual, community, and large-scale social change. From this perspective, equal access for someone with an impairment/disability
is a human rights issue of major concern.
The Expert or Professional Model of Disability:
This model has provided a traditional response to disability issues and can be seen as an offshoot of the
medical model. Within its framework, professionals follow a process of identifying the impairment and its limitations (using
the medical model), and taking the necessary action to improve the position of the disabled person. This has tended to produce
a system in which an authoritarian, over-active service provider prescribes and acts for a passive client.The Tragedy and/or
Charity Model of Disability:Depicts disabled people as victims of circumstance who are deserving of pity. This, along with
the medical model, is the models most used by non-disabled people to define and explain disability.
The Moral Model of Disability:
Refers
to the attitude that people are morally responsible for their own disability. For example, the disability may be seen as a
result of bad actions of parents if congenital, or as a result of practising witchcraft if not. This attitude may also be
viewed as a religious fundamentalist offshoot of the original animal roots of human beings when humans killed any baby that
could not survive on its own in the wild. Echoes of this can be seen in the doctrine of karma in Indian religions.
The Legitimacy Model of Disability:
Views disability as a value-based determination about which explanations for the atypical are legitimate for membership
in the disability category. This viewpoint allows for multiple explanations and models to be considered as purposive and viable
(DePoy & Gilson, 2004) (Elizabeth DePoy & Stephen Gilson).
The empowering Model of Disability:
Allows for the person with a disability and his/her family to decide the course of their treatment and what services
they wish to benefit from. This, in turn, turns the professional into a service provider whose role is to offer guidance and
carry out the client’s decisions. In other words, this model “empowers” the individual to pursue his/her
own goals.
The Social Adapted Model of Disability:
States although a person’s disability poses some limitations in an able-bodied society, oftentimes the surrounding
society and environment are more limiting than the disability itself.
The Economic Model of Disability:
Defines disability by a person’s inability to participate in work. It also assesses the degree to which impairment
affects an individual’s productivity and the economic consequences for the individual, employer and the state. Such
consequences include loss of earnings for and payment for assistance by the individual; lower profit margins for the employer;
and state welfare payments. This model is directly related to the charity/tragedy model.
The market Model
of Disability:
A minority rights and consumerist model of disability that recognizing people with disabilities
and their Stakeholders as representing a large group of consumers, employees and voters. This model looks to personal identity
to define disability and empowers people to chart their own destiny in everyday life, with a particular focus on economic
empowerment. By this model, based on US Census data, there are 1.2 billion people in the world who consider themselves to
have a disability. An additional two billion people are considered Stakeholders in disability (family/friends/employers),
and when combined to the number of people without disabilities, represents 53% of the population. This model states that,
due to the size of the demographic, companies and governments will serve the desires, pushed by demand as the message becomes
prevalent in the cultural mainstream.
The Spectrum Model of Disability:
The spectrum model refers to the range of visibility, audibility and sensibility under which mankind functions. The model
asserts that disability does not necessarily mean reduced spectrum of operations.
