“Only Three Steps”: Why The World Needs to Become More Accessible

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Only Three Steps

Dec 02, 2021
• Guest Blog, Life in a Wheelchair

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I’ve long believed that the word “disabled” is not an adjective but a past tense verb. I am “disabled” often because of the surrounding environment rather than because of any defect of my brain. In the disability community, there is a tendency to separate terms such as “difference,” “disability,” and “impairment.” These are fluid terms that can overlap, but they can also make an important point about where a disability comes from and what makes something a disability.

The general approach to disability in broader society is known as the medical model of disability, which essentially states that the cause of one’s disability is their differences or impairments, that it is their medical issues that “gives” them a disability. [...]