Differentiation by disability By Lisa Williams and Anuja Sivakumaran

How disability affect your life chances Registered disabled people are around 7 times more likely to be unemployed, the result of this is that large numbers of disabled people suffer poverty and live on state benefits Disabled people in work are more likely to be in low paid, low skilled, low status jobs. Disabled women are more likely to be unemployed than disabled men

Disabled people and access to education Traditionally, disabled people went to special schools where opportunities and facilities were sometimes limited. Nowadays, many people with disabilities attend mainstream school, however in some cases disabled pupils cannot get the support they need to get the best out of mainstream education. Less than 50% of disabled people continue their education after the school leaving age.

Disabled people and access to leisure Despite the disability discrimination act of 1995, disable people still encounter practical difficulty in accessing cultural and leisure facilities. E.g. lack of wheelchair ramps, signs that aren't clear enough for the visually impaired Some experience social stereotyping and social exclusion from activities Some children and teenagers with disabilities do not have the opportunity to socialise with others of their own age without adult carers being present

Theories on disability There are two main theories on disability: The Medical model The Social model

The medical model This model focuses on the physical impairment and tries to “fix” it The medical model can label people as dependant and weak or “faulty” This model basically tries to blame the person for their disabilities and solve it medically, through use of drugs and other such treatments etc …

The social model The social model of disability suggests that it is society that needs to be fixed, not people with disabilities It has prompted changes in social policy. The most important the disability discrimination act 1995 which makes equal access a legal requirement for employers, shops, schools, bus and train stations etc. This model is basically about focussing on a persons impairments but disabling the social and environmental factors e.g. attitudes, stereotypes, lack of access, and lack of rights

Oliver: disability and the myth of the personal tragedy Oliver (1990) argues that the biomedical model of disability leads to what he calls personal tragedy Personal tragedy is the need for the disabled person to come to terms with their problem He calls this the personal tragedy because it describes disability as some personal terrible problem, which has ruined the persons life. He says that the biomedical model of disability has been taken for granted and achieved ideological hegemony (the domination of one theory over others) Oliver said that disability should be seen as a social problem and a person may have a physical impairment but it only becomes a disability when social and economic factors in society make it a disability

Vic Finkelstein: capitalism and disability (1980) Said disability is the product of capitalist society and industrialisation Before these processes he says disabled people were not segregated from society They performed begging and agricultural work before industrialisation but with the shift to machine based work were no longer needed for labour from disabled people Without access to work they became a burden on society and therefore a segregated group

Criticisms of Finkelstein Tom Shakespeare (1994) disagreed with this argument He suggests all societies have reacted negatively to impairment and this is often reflected in the way the disabled are portrayed in culture He therefore says that oppression of disabled people pre date industrial capitalism and the origins of prejudice lie less in the place of disabled people in the labour market and more in the wider cultural representation of disabled people