kisekileia

I recently read a post on Feministing about the social model of disability that infuriated me. For those who are unaware, the social model of disability posits that disability is a social construction arising from society’s failure to meet all people’s needs, and exists primarily because physical and mental differences are not adequately accommodated. Proponents of the social model of disability see it as existing in contrast to the medical model of disability, which is that disabilities are objective medical realities consisting of the inability to perform certain mental or physical tasks that most people can. Activism for the rights of disabled people is often based on the social model of disability.

The problem with this is that the social model of disability is a steaming pile of horseshit. As a disabled person, I know that I am OBJECTIVELY impaired in my ability to do various things, and I objectively require several medications to function as normally as possible. Awareness, accommodations, and treatment, which social model of disability advocates propose as solving the problems of disability, make my life easier and more pleasant. Awareness means that I no longer blame myself for my disability symptoms, and that my family blames me less for them than in years past. Accommodations remove some obstacles that my disabilities would otherwise create in my university career. Medical treatment means that I can do many things I would otherwise be unable to do.