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Centre Of Bioethical Research & Analysis (COBRA) resources:
Cobra Issue Guides

DISABILITY

This COBRA Issue Guide on Disability is intended to give an introduction to issues and questions arising from the concept of disability. It is not a comprehensive overview of the literature or theories on disability. If you wish to research this issue in more detail, we recommend that you start with the readings below.

Definitions

How we define and conceptualise disability has a serious influence on how society evaluates its responsibilities toward those with disability and the rights to which they are entitled.

The Medical Model (Traditional Approach)

Impairment:
Any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function

Disability:
Any restriction or lack of ability (resulting* from an impairment) to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being.

Handicap:
A disadvantage for a given individual, resulting* from an impairment or disability, that limits or prevents the fulfilment of a role (depending on age, sex and social and cultural factors) for that individual. * The emphasis here is on disability as a purely physical and unalterable condition. No attention is paid to the fact that much disability results from, or is compounded by, a particular social set up.

* The emphasis here is on disability as a purely physical and unalterable condition. No attention is paid to the fact that much disability results from, or is compounded by, a particular social set up.

The Social Model (from Disabled People International)

Impairment:
The functional limitation within the individual caused by physical, mental or sensory impairment.

Disability:
The loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the normal life of the community on an equal level with others due to physical** or social barriers.

** This definition could be said to be ambiguous about what constitutes a physical barrier. If 'physical' refers only to environmental inaccessibility, the social model could be said to neglect some physical problems that can be bound up with functional limitation.

The Biopsychosocial Model (An Alternative Approach)

Impairment:
Physical, mental or sensory functional limitation.

Impairment induced disability:
The loss or limitation of ability or opportunities to take part in the life of the community on an equal level with others due to impairment.

Socially induced disability:
The loss or limitation of ability or opportunities for people with impairments to take part in the life of the community on an equal level with others due to economic, political, social, legal, environmental and inter personal constraints.

Considerations

People with impairments can be socially, economically and professionally isolated to a large extent. This need have nothing to do with impairment itself. Rather, past and present social policies with regard to education, employment, health and social support services, housing, transport and the built environment can be cited as contributing a great deal to disabled peoples' experiences of isolation.

Much disability is both social and remediable. That is to say, the fact that disabled people cannot do many things in society can, and does, have very little to do with their impairment. E.g. if ramps and lifts became as common as stairs are, people who rely on wheels to get around would not be disadvantaged at all in their pursuit of a wide range of activities that are presently ruled out, or made significantly more difficult, by the prevalence of stairs coupled with an absence of ramps or lifts.

Acknowledging that there is a social component to much disability makes disability an issue of social justice and encourages that personal, social and medical attitudes toward people with impairments change.

Centre Of Bioethical Research & Analysis (COBRA) resources:
Cobra Issue Guides

DISABILITY

Definitions

The Medical Model (Traditional Approach)

The Social Model (from Disabled People International)

The Biopsychosocial Model (An Alternative Approach)

Considerations

Further Reading

Irish Resources

Documentary

Centre Of Bioethical Research & Analysis (COBRA) resources: Cobra Issue Guides

DISABILITY

Definitions

The Medical Model (Traditional Approach)

The Social Model (from Disabled People International)

The Biopsychosocial Model (An Alternative Approach)

Considerations

Further Reading

Irish Resources

Documentary

Centre Of Bioethical Research & Analysis (COBRA) resources:
Cobra Issue Guides