Essay on The Social Model: Attitudinal Barriers

Task 3 “The Social Model was devised by disabled people to explain the barrier to equality which they experience” (Children in Wales) Social model is a more acceptable model as it states that society is the problem rather than the person’s impairment an example is if a building doesn’t have a ramp the social model says that one should be built so the disabled people can do things for themselves; without barriers they are able to do things independently so they don’t have to rely on the people around them.

Social and Medical model are different as one says that society is the problem while the other says that the person with the disabilities must adapt to the environment around them; the Social model thinks that barriers need to be identified so solutions can be found whereas the Medical model thinks that that labelling is the way to so they can have treatment like therapy or surgery in order to sort out the problems. The Social model believe that people with impairments should be valued as equal members of society it also says that disabilities isn’t an individual problem so shouldn’t be faced alone.

Society evolves when people look at the social model because when we are adapt things around us we ensure that they can do things independently; the Social model says that “Everyone needs to recognise that society, through government and its agencies has a duty to remove these barriers” (Children in Wales) There are different barriers that can be created by society; Attitudinal Barrier, Environmental Barriers and Institutional Barrier, attitudinal barriers look at the attitude that people have towards disabled people it says that they are pitiful, childlike or have no value to bring to different situations where as nvironmental looks at the access they have to environments around them including schools or shopping; even small print or complex use of language.

Institutional barriers are the lack of good anti discriminative legislation which can exclude disabled people; transport or education which does not provide for people with impairments. Medical model sees a person with disabilities as someone who must adapt to the environment; e. g. find a way of getting up a set of stairs because there is no : it is seen as a more traditional understanding of disability in which disability is equated with impairments.

The medical model says “Your disability needs curing/ fixing” Institutes and schools only end up meeting the basic need, the medical model looks at what is “wrong” with the person not what the person needs so they are often handed over to professional so they can go through surgery or therapy. The medical model says that “the impairment is the problem”. “If a medical cure is not possible, people are excluded from “normal” society; they may be shut away in a specialised institution or isolated at home, where only their most basic needs are met.

How does it impact on practice? Social Model can impact on practice as it has it can affect the attitude of people around the world, the social model says that society is the problem so if attitudes are changed within the practice it can ever better evolve the way people think about “disabled people” as well as a better understanding of how they feel when they are spoken to; everyone is valued when a setting looks at the Social Model as people are treated well enough because they are treated the same as everyone else.

Children in the settings that adapt this type of thinking will generally be more happy, challenged or stimulated because they are not being discriminated against because they are disabled in one way or another however it also help when a practitioner adapt activities so they are able to join in; tasks have to be challenging so that they are not considered too easy for some people while too hard for others so by being able to adapt activities so they are able to join in with activities and example an be football if it is adapted so that they are able to join in. When they are able to be themselves in settings without fear of being discriminated this fosters self-esteem, self-confidence and self-reliance so by meeting their needs they are learning to live in a better world.

Medical model is ever important however it is not best as it will lower a child’s self-esteem when in a setting that adapts to this practice, children are not being challenged enough so are stuck with the same level of work; use of language can often reveal what model is being used within a setting “You may, for example, hear people referring to a ‘Down’s boy” rather than ‘A boy who has Down’s syndrome” this can affect people’s approach to disabled people.

There basic needs are being met however nothing else is because they are focused on fixing the problem so do not care about helping them get high on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs; when this happen practitioner and teachers are expecting less from the children because they are different to the people around them.

They may feel like they are a burden to the people around them so they may have low self-esteem or even suffer from depression which may lead to suicide because they feel like they have been enough of a problem to the people around them Positive attitudes are important as they are based on the basis of belief, when there are positive attitudes there can be a way to develop what people think about certain topic one topic is of “Disabled people”; if there are influences from a young age that get them to have a positive attitude towards disabled people then they are going to grow up seeing that as equals rather than inferior. In a survey carried out by Mumsnet and Scope found out that four in ten (38%) parents said that their disabled children ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ have the opportunity to socialise and mix with children who aren’t disabled ” (Hardeep Aiden and Andrea McCarthy.

Current attitudes towards disabled people. Scope) Beliefs are picked up by people by many different sources whether that be from media, internet or from the people around them, these belief can either form a positive or egative attitudes and this will be determined by what they are hearing in the world around them; they need the opportunity to learn about disabled people because it gives them to chance to talk to them and learn that they are no different from themselves as they all have dreams and hopes. School have the best opportunities to teach children about the treatment of disabled people as they will be able to show them a positive attitude from a young age, but they will also be given the opportunity to me disabled people so they can build their own opinion and attitude towards them.

Evidence shows that a large amount of the population believes that disabled people are less capable than non-disabled people. Positive attitudes are important as they show that people have an acceptance towards disabled people however negative attitudes are still out yet if children are given the chance to interact with children with disabilities they will grow up understanding what they go through and may evidently grow up with an positive attitude that they could pass onto their children.