Social model v medical model gubbins
"You see, you've got to start thinking about us in terms of society, not the medical screw ups that we are." This is a direct quote from Bert Massie. Actually, no it's not. I lied. How else do you introduce a weblog item about the Social model of disability, yet still keep everyone interested? They're gonna think this is some kind of essay!
Listen up anyway. Da social model of disability it b cool. Da medical model of disability ain't cool, kidz. And before anyone accuses us of 'dumbing down', let me remind you that where I come from that's disablist talk, spacker. Oops, there I go again!
We've had some emails in recent months, plus a bit of chat on the messageboard, about the importance of these two thought models that - though many people may not realise it - are key to the understanding of our lives, how we live them, how we're forced to live and/or how we're treated. We thought it was time to point you towards some info about it all.
The renowned online collaborative encyclopedia has a , and also a . And the great thing here is that if you don't like their definitions, you can go and change them. That's what Wikipedia, and all other wikis, are all about, innit. Word.
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There's also a nice discussion of the social model on the DANDA website and a robust defence against its critics on the site of Disability Awareness in Action.