Medical model of disability

==Criticism==

==Criticism==

{{further|Social model of disability}}

{{further|Social model of disability}}

Critics of the medical model have also pointed to concerns about how disability is measured and classified. The emphasis on quantifying impairment through metrics such as disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) have been criticized for implying that disability or ill-health are primarily economic "costs" rather than aspects of human diversity. Additionally, the language used in some medical classifications has been described as paternalistic or patronizing, with terms such as "vulnerability," "deficiency model," and "slow-functioning" potentially reinforcing negative stereotypes about disabled people. {{cite book |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK378951/|title=Implications for public health research of models and theories of disability: a scoping study and evidence synthesis|vauthors=Berghs M, Atkin K, Graham H, Hatton C, Thomas C|date=July 2016|publisher=NIHR Journals Library|series=Public Health Research|location=Southampton (UK)|chapter=Chapter 3: Scoping models and theories of disability|issue=4.8}}

The medical model focuses on individual intervention and treatment as the proper approach to disability. Emphasis is placed on the biological expression of disability rather than on the systems and structures that can inhibit the lives of people with disabilities. Under the medical model, disabled bodies are defined as something to be corrected, changed, or cured. Terminology used can perpetuate negative labels such as deviant, pathological, and defective, thus, best understood in medical terms. The history and future of disability are severely constricted, focusing solely on medical implications and can overlook social constructions contributing to the experience of disability. Alternatively, the social model presents disability less as an objective fact of the body and mind, and positions it in terms of social relations and barriers that an individual may face in social settings.{{cite book |last1=Kafer |first1=Alison |title=Feminist, queer, crip |year=2013 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0253009340}}

The medical model focuses on individual intervention and treatment as the proper approach to disability. Emphasis is placed on the biological expression of disability rather than on the systems and structures that can inhibit the lives of people with disabilities. Under the medical model, disabled bodies are defined as something to be corrected, changed, or cured. Terminology used can perpetuate negative labels such as deviant, pathological, and defective, thus, best understood in medical terms. The history and future of disability are severely constricted, focusing solely on medical implications and can overlook social constructions contributing to the experience of disability. Alternatively, the social model presents disability less as an objective fact of the body and mind, and positions it in terms of social relations and barriers that an individual may face in social settings.{{cite book |last1=Kafer |first1=Alison |title=Feminist, queer, crip |year=2013 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0253009340}}