Theoretical Models of Disability

Medical Model

The Medical Model views disability as biological impairments caused by medically diagnosed genetic disorders, disease, trauma, or other health conditions. The disability is treated as a biological problem that lowers the quality of life and requires professional medical treatment and care.

For example, if someone is deaf, the Medical Model emphasizes diagnosis and medical intervention (such as hearing aids or cochlear implants)  rather than addressing barriers like a lack of captions or sign language interpretation. 

Strengths

The Medical Model has several key strengths. First, the medical model explicitly acknowledges that there is a biological condition that places an individual at a disadvantage compared to the majority of the population. Second, in a clinical medical setting, a clearly defined set of biological criteria is provided, enabling medical professionals to accurately diagnose a person's condition. This allows them to make informed decisions about treatment. Similarly, when deciding who should receive government assistance, a clearly defined set of criteria helps inform those decisions. Finally, understanding biological causes enables early intervention and preventive strategies to reduce complications or further impairment. 

Weaknesses

Focuses on the individual: The model fundamentally treats disability as a problem or inherent characteristic of the individual. It exclusively focuses on the person's bodily condition, viewing it as directly caused by disease, trauma, or another health condition.

Emphasis on cure/management: Its management strategy is primarily aimed at achieving a "cure" or an "almost-cure" through medical treatment, or by focusing on the individual's adjustment and behavioral change.

Ignores societal barriers: A major weakness of the Medical Model is that it often overlooks issues caused by unwelcoming or inaccessible environments. It fails to account for broader sociopolitical constraints, including attitudes, policies, and a lack of regulations. For example, if a student cannot access a building due to steps, the medical model suggests the issue lies with the person's physical disability, rather than the inaccessible environment (the steps).

Negative perceptions and exclusion: This common medical understanding of disability can lead to negative emotional consequences for people with disabilities, who often report feeling excluded, undervalued, or pressured to conform to a questionable norm. They may feel frustrated when met with pitying attitudes or disbelief if they discuss anything positive about living with their conditions.

Social Model

This model views disability not as an inherent human characteristic but as a consequence of environmental, social, and attitudinal barriers. If we design environments to minimize or eliminate barriers, individuals with disabilities will have equal access and participation in the world. The Social Model emphasizes that accessibility is a shared responsibility: society, not the individual, must remove obstacles to create inclusion and equity. 

Strengths

The social model emphasizes the human rights of people with disabilities to participate in society in meaningful ways. Its key strengths include highlighting the importance of accessible design in buildings, consumer products, and transportation systems, and framing disability as a human rights issue rather than an individual problem.

This model encourages systemic change by addressing policies, societal attitudes, and cultural norms, and promotes inclusion, equity, and meaningful participation for people with disabilities. By focusing on removing barriers, it also creates benefits for everyone, not just those with disabilities.

The big picture with the social model is that society can be more welcoming, more just, and have a higher quality of life for all if we make the effort to design with accessibility in mind.

Weaknesses

Some disability advocates have argued that, despite the positive impact of the Social Model to combat the narrowly-focused and exclusive nature of the Medical Model, it can de-emphasize the physical reality of a disability too much. Advocates argue that a person's disability can be an important part of one's identity, and it shouldn't be minimized to the point that people are afraid to talk about it. Accepting and "owning" one's disability can be very healthy from an emotional and psychological perspective.

Biopsychosocial Model

The Biopsychosocial Model is an interdisciplinary framework that looks at how biological, psychological, and socio-environmental factors interact. It considers how these factors influence topics ranging from health and disease to human development. The model acknowledges that disability is complex and multifaceted, incorporating the perspectives of both the Medical and Social Models, including the biological, individual, and social aspects of disability on a person’s experience.

Strengths

The Biopsychosocial Model posits that three factors influence health, healthcare, and disease: physiological, psychological, and social. This means it considers both the smaller picture of biological problems at the individual level and the broader picture of psychological issues, as well as the impact of society on that individual and their situation.

Weaknesses

A disadvantage of the model, as critics point out, is that it can be confusing and misleading for a new user to use correctly and appropriately. The model suggests that biology and psychology are two separate fields in medicine. This leads to misunderstandings among new users, who may not know which patient symptom should be categorized under which factor.

The Biopsychosocial Model considers the impact of society on an individual, encompassing their religious beliefs, primary and secondary relationships, work history, past experiences, and other relevant factors. However, it can become impractical to consider so many social factors when analyzing a patient's problem. For experts, it can also be challenging to determine which social factors should be considered alongside psychological and biological factors.

Economic Model

This model primarily views disability through the lens of productivity and financial perspectives, focusing on the impacts of disability on individuals, employers, and governments. It is often used to measure economic costs and inform decisions about disability support, workplace accommodations, and accessibility programs. While this approach does provide useful data for planning and resource allocation, it is criticized for reducing a person’s value to their economic contribution and potentially overlooking broader sociological factors that affect inclusion and participation.

Strengths

The Economic Model includes the following strengths:

Economic impact: Recognizes the financial impact of disability on individuals, community resources, family, and support networks.

Government and policy: This model is frequently employed in policy-making to assess the economic costs and benefits of disability support and insurance programs.

Weaknesses

In addition to the criticisms mentioned above, the Economic Model also focuses heavily on productivity. The model assesses the degree to which a disability impairs a person's ability to work or be productive, thereby reducing their economic contribution.

Functional Solutions Model

The Functional Solutions Model identifies problems caused by disability and offers practical solutions using tools, strategies, and technology. Its goal is to reduce or eliminate functional impairments, allowing people with disabilities to participate more fully in education, work, and everyday life. By emphasizing innovation and adaptability, this model guides accessibility professionals in creating environments, systems, and products that empower independence and inclusion.

Strengths

The following are the strengths of the Functional Solutions Model:

Focused on results: Emphasizes solving problems that are disabling individuals through practical interventions.

Assistive technology and adaptive strategies: Offers accessible environments and methods that enable participation and independence.

Weaknesses

Like the Medical Model, the Functional Solutions Model is focused on the individual, ignoring solutions for the larger social causes of disability, and places the burden of adaptation on the individual rather than society.

Social Identity or Cultural Affiliation Model

The Social Identity or Cultural Affiliation Model views disability not as a medical condition or individual problem, but as a social and cultural construct shaped by societal norms, beliefs, and media representations. It emphasizes that the experience of disability is a shared cultural identity for many, with its own history and community. This model highlights the importance of disability, culture, and lived experience in shaping inclusion, accessibility, and societal understanding.

Strengths

The benefits of the Social Identity Model include:

Social construction: Recognizes that disability is a category created by society, and its meaning varies across different cultures and contexts.

Shared identity: Sees people with disabilities as part of a community with a shared identity, history, and culture, which is not defined by impairment alone.

Cultural representation: Analyzes how disability is represented in cultural spaces like media, art, and literature to understand how these representations shape public perceptions and experiences.

Focus on lived experience: The model centers on the lived experiences of people with disabilities and their agency, including the concept of disability as a source of cultural agency and resistance.

Rejection of stigma: Challenges the negative stigma attached to disability by highlighting the cultural and historical aspects of the disabled community, such as the Deaf community's distinct culture and language.

Weaknesses

Despite its strengths, the Social Identity Model has the following weaknesses:

Overemphasis on identity: It may not fully account for how other aspects of a person's identity, like gender, race, or sexuality, interact with their disability.

Neglect of individual experience: Similar to the Social Model, it can downplay or ignore the lived experience of physical or mental suffering that may be intrinsic to some impairments. It may not fully address the practical and interpersonal aspects of disability.

Charity Model

This model views disability as a personal tragedy that evokes pity and requires charitable giving. The outdated perspective portrays people with disabilities as helpless and dependent, placing the responsibility on others to provide support rather than recognizing their rights or potential for independence. It focuses on "fixing" or "curing" the person, or praising basic accomplishments as inspirational, which can create social exclusion and perpetuate a power imbalance.

Strengths

The strengths of the Charity Model include:

Immediate support: The model can inspire and facilitate direct, practical assistance and fundraising for individuals with disabilities.

Need for assistance: It acknowledges that some individuals may require economic support or accommodations to address their limitations.

Weaknesses

In addition to being outdated, the Charity Model includes the following weaknesses:

Undermines autonomy: It presents people with disabilities as passive recipients of aid, rather than active participants with their own rights and agency.

Reinforces negative stereotypes: By framing disability as tragic or inspirational, it can create harmful stereotypes and stigmatize individuals.

Creates dependency: It fosters a dynamic of dependency on the goodwill of others, rather than empowering people with disabilities to live independently.