Social model of disability

The social model of disability proposes that people are disabled by systemic barriers, negative attitudes, and social exclusion, rather than by their own physical or mental differences. Emerging from the disability rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, this approach challenges the traditional medical model, which views the body as a machine to be “fixed” to fit a perceived norm. The social model of disability seeks to challenge power imbalances within society between disabled people and seeks to redefine what disability means as a diverse expression of human life. While physical, sensory, intellectual, or psychological variations may result in individual functional differences, these do not necessarily have to lead to disability unless society fails to take account of and include people intentionally with respect to their individual needs.