What is the "Social Model of Disability"?

I believe strongly in the Social Model of Disability and fully embrace its more modern approach. As I go about my job, I am frequently asked "What is the Social Model of Disability?" So here goes - a quick definition......

There are various ways of looking at disability.

The traditional and most commonly used method is the Medical Model of Disability. This puts the focus on the individual disabled person and because of what is “wrong” with them and the main point of why services need to change i.e. services need to change to fit with the individual disabled person.

Contrary to this is a more forward thinking approach which is being used more widely and this is the Social Model of Disability. This moves the focus away from the individual disabled person to the barriers that the disabled person faces and it is these barriers which disables them. They do have an impairment or condition but this is private and personal to the individual and should not be the subject of gossip or chit-chat. The barriers that face a disabled person can be wide ranging e.g. physical, attitudual, information and communication, organisational and environmental to name but a few. The Social Model of Disability encourages inclusion of disabled people within all mainstream activities and most importantly treats disabled people on the same level as everyone else.