The interesting thing I think about the social model of disability is that if a certain condition is accomodated well enough, it can render a cure obsolete, since health itself (and our view of it) is a social construct and thus a 'sufficiently accomodated' person might no longer consider themselves as disabled/in need of a cure at all. It can indeed be very eye-opening to research the definition of health, since the more one researches, the more one finds that even medicine does not seem to have a very steady grasp of the concept. But I might be slightly heading off on a tangent... Lovely video (as always)!

@robokill387

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, in many cases that is correct. For example, we don't try to Curr short sighted people generally, because they are well enough accommodated to not be disabled.

there is no such thing as normal, "The only people who can still strike us as normal are those we don’t yet know very well." -Alain de Botton xx

Another pro to the social model is that the outcomes are better as it provides all the positives from the medical model and adds social, environment and cultural factors.

I would never wish to be 'cured'. The pervasive idea that we should wish to be like our temporarily non-impaired peers is something I find disturbing, since it implies that we are still somehow less than those around us while we remain as we are. Laying aside the fact that I would have a horrible quality of life were I given the use of my eyes tomorrow, and/or given a brain which operated (say) like many of my friends or relatives, I am convinced that impairment is merely another part of the essential fabric of life. We need diversity to survive as a race, and any attempt to eliminate that diversity by any means is foolish in the extreme. I could go on for ages about how I think life is designed to teach us but maybe we can add it to our growing discussion list. When I was a child I owned a postbox toy which was a container with a lid into which various holes had been moulded. The idea, of course, is to fit the correctly-shaped piece into the correct hole. There is no way you can fit the incorrect one without riskign damage to the unfortunate piece; nor is there any way to increase the number of holes if you find there is a shape which doesn't quite fit, making it a form of very early conditioning. But what if that lid and its holes were made of silicon? Then you could make the holes accommodate any shape at all without damaging either the hole or the piece. I think we may even be outgrowing the social model - at least in theorey. However, this video is invaluable in trying to explain to the sceptics and doubters, delivered to your usual escellent standar.d

Wanting everyone to be the same is the way most Americans view others, they must assimilate to be like the majority, even if it causes the other mental or physical distress. Individual needs are ignored for the Majority to stay in power.

Another example came to my mind, but I think it's kind of satirical: Somebody is short, so s/he has trouble reaching high places, like upper shelves in stores. According to Medical Model, there's no need for stepladder etc. but that person needs to get taller. Also, light and dark? Really?...

@Autistamatic

4 жыл бұрын

When one has a severely limiting impairment then the world can seem a very dark place indeed if left unassisted. The social model offers ways of improving life on top of the medical options so truly is a ray of light in such circumstances.