How can an understanding of the Social model of disability and the availability of assistive technology help Care practitioners create enabling environments?
Part A: Essay plan
Introduction
Disability has historically been defined differently under various settings. Such variation in definition has seen many people with disability face social exclusion and environmental barriers. The emergence of technological development such as assistive technology requires an understanding of disability to ensure their effective utilisation. The medical and social models of disability have especially gained popularity.
Thesis statement
The design of assistive technology is largely based on the medical model of disability. However, if at all Care providers are to create enabling environments for people with disability, there is need to also understand the Social model of disability.
Paragraph 1
Mobility is highly desirable as a key indicator of an individual’s quality of life and wellness. Tension between mobility, the individual and the environment where it takes place can best explain the variance between the medical model of disability and the social model of disability.
Paragraph 2
The medical model views disability as a ‘problem’ of the individual with the disability, and hence focuses on ‘fixing’ this problem or finding a cure to it.
Paragraph 3
The social model of disability perceives the individual with a disability as a valuable member of society who can ably partake in all activities. The model views society as having a problem and hence needs fixing to minimise negative attitudes and discrimination towards people with disability.
Paragraph 4
Assistive technology gives people with disability improved functionality and independence by breaking down physical barriers and extending opportunities to persons with disability. However, it strongly identifies with the medical model of disability as it inclines towards the issue of rehabilitating person with disability in order to fix the problem.
Paragraph 5
By understanding the social model of disability, Care providers can make more informed decisions in improving the social, physical and attitudinal environment of people with disability, thus promoting their inclusiveness into societal activities.
Paragraph 6
Conducting education programmes and training sessions on the social theory of disability would help care providers to view disability from a social context and hence influence their perception of design of assistive technology that creates an enabling environment for persons with disability.
Conclusion
The medical and social models of disability vary in terms of how an individual with a disability is viewed. The medical model views the persons as having a problem that needs to be fixed while the social model views society as in needs of change to avoid discrimination and prejudice to persons with disability. Its understanding by care providers would also likely influence the design of assistive technology in order to create an enabling environment for the persons with disability.
Party B: Essay
Introduction
In many countries across the globe, people with various forms of disabilities have had to endure historical exclusion, social oppression, and environmental barriers. Part of the explanation to this exclusion and oppression has to do with how disability is defined under various contexts (Shakespeare 2010). Towards this end, two models have emerged. The medical model defines disability from the context of individual deficit (Sullivan 2011), whereas the social model views disability as more of a social creation, or the link between the persons with a disability and a disabling society (Barnes & Mercer 2004). Technological developments such as the use of assistive technologies are geared towards creating an enabling environment for people with disability. However, there appears to be a lot of emphasis on the medical model of disability in the design of these assistive technologies. If at all Care providers are to create enabling environments for people with disability, there is need to also understand the Social model of disability.
Understanding disability
Mobility, or the ability to move, forms a basic component of human capacity. The ability of an individual to move without having to rely on assistive technology is regarded as a crucial indicator in rehabilitation, and is hence a key outcome on an individual's quality of life (Oliver & Sapey 2006). However, the extent of mobility is reliant on the capacity of an individual and their environment of operation. There appears to be tension in the link between the environment where mobility occurs and the individual, and this sets the social model of disability apart with the medical model of disability.
According to the medical model of disability, disability is regarded as a 'problem' of the individual with a disability (Sullivan 2010). Therefore, disability is only an issue of concern to the individuals affected, and not others. According, preference is given to finding a cure or 'fixing' the individual. The medical model forms the basis of most negative attitudes regarding persons with disability; they are often viewed as dependent and defective, and hence require rehabilitation or a cure (Hersh & Johnson 2008). This is intended to find a solution to the problem, thus ensuring that the individual with disability becomes closer to “normal.” Based on this model, it is very easy to view persons with disabilities as being defective and weak, dependent and needy, and not able to participate fully in various activities in society.
On the other hand, the social model of disability is opposed to the idea that disability is a medical condition (Swain et al. 2004). The model views persons with disability as valued individuals in society capable of fully participating in all activities, as opposed to defective and “different” individuals. The model further rejects the idea that persons with disabilities need to undergo rehabilitation or a cure n order that they can become “normal”, or that they are inferior. As opposed to identifying the person's impairment as the source of the issues linked to disability, the social model identifies society as the source of the problems faced by persons with disabilities, by identifying society's hostility towards these individuals and not others. Based on this model therefore, disability encompasses everything within society that is likely to exclude and isolate persons with disability, including discrimination and prejudice; inaccessible transportation system and buildings (Shakespeare 2010), among others. The social model thus argues that the solution lies in fixing society in order to reduce negative attitudes and discrimination towards person with disability. The model further holds that in the absence of these environmental and social barriers, we would eradicate disability.
Assistive technology
Assistive technology affords persons with disability enhanced functionality and independence and is hence beneficial. In this way, assistive technology seeks to bridge the gaps between what existing social infrastructures permit them to do and what they would wish to do (Van der Loos & Mitchell 2010). Nonetheless, assistive technology has been shown to have a strong inclination towards rehabilitation or health flavour and in this way, resonates with the medical model of disability. The medical model of disability is largely responsible for much of the assistive technology currently in use. This goes to depict persons with disabilities as dependent and deficient.
However, a better understanding and adoption of the social model of disability would help designers to value persons with disabilities as users, as opposed to patients, thus minimising the prevalence of the medical model in assistive technology. An improvement in the social, physical, and attitudinal environment will go a long way in promoting the participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities (Rust & Smith 2005).
Raising awareness amongst care practitioners through education and training programme would help to instil the social model of disability into the care providers, thereby overcoming the prejudice and ignorance that might surround the issue of disability. An understanding of the social model will also enable care practitioners to appreciate the need for empowering persons with disability by adopting participative and user-centred approaches (Hersh & Johnson 2010). The social model of disability is especially suited for the design, research and development involved in assistive technology. This is because the goal of assistive technology and its associated devices and products is to “extend opportunities and break down barriers” (Hersh & Johnson 2010, p. 3). Such an approach would also take into account the autonomy and independence of persons with disability.
Conclusion
Both the social and medical models of disability differ in terms of how a person with a disability is perceived. While the medical model depicts an individual with disabilities as dependent, inferior and abnormal, the social model views the individual as normal and independent person who can partake in all activities within society. While assistive technology may have helped to make life easier for persons with disabilities, many of the devices and products are designed with the medical model of disability in mind. Adopting the social model of disability would also help to change the perceptions and attitudes of care providers regarding persons with disability, and hence assist them in creating enabling environments for these people.
References
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Hersh M & Johnson MA (2008),’ On modelling assistive technology systems-Part I: Modelling
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Hersh M & Johnson MA (2010), Assistive Technology for Visually Impaired and Blind People, New York: Springer Science & Business Media.
Oliver M & Sapey B (2006), Social work with disabled people, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Rust L & Smith RO (2005),’Assistive technology in the measurement of rehabilitation and health outcomes: a review and analysis of instruments’, American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, vol. 84, no. 10, pp. 780-793.
Shakespeare T (2010), The Social Model of Disability. The Disability Studies Reader. Ed. Lennard J. Davis, New York: Routledge.
Sullivan K (2011). The Prevalence of the Medical Model of Disability in Society. AHS Capstone Projects. Paper13. [Online]. Available at: http://digitalcommons.olin.edu/ahs_capstone_2011/13
[Accessed 27 Dec.2016].
Swain J, French S, Barnes C & Thomas C, Eds. (2004), Disabling Barriers-Enabling Environments, London: SAGE.
Van der Loos, HFM & Mitchell IM (2010), Design and Use of Assistive Technology: Social,
Technical, Ethical, and Economic Challenges, New York: Springer.
