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My own two cents on the #socialmodel:
TLDR: If YOU want to change YOURSELF (body, pain, identity) for YOUR convenience, you're valid! BUT nondisabled people in society should NEVER force you to change for THEIR convenience. What should those people change? Society!
Here we go! 1/
TLDR: If YOU want to change YOURSELF (body, pain, identity) for YOUR convenience, you're valid! BUT nondisabled people in society should NEVER force you to change for THEIR convenience. What should those people change? Society!
Here we go! 1/
Identity dump if you think it's necessary (and I'm not entirely sure it is): I'm disabled. In multiple ways. Wheelchair-user. Chronic pain. (Exhaustion that comes with). Non-apparent medical setbacks. Explosive bladder. Half blind. Sitting in my own sick, the scent th-ahem. 2/
I'm also American. Rural NY. I hadn't heard of the social model, Oliver, Barnes, Finkelstein, Shakespeare, etc. until I got to Leeds in 2019. Bit of an indoctrination, tbh, BUT even before I recognized the term, I recognized an ableist society. Of course I did. I lived in one. 3/
I recognized that many nondisabled people in society thought that disabled people could "overcome" barriers if they just tried harder. If they went to PT. Had surgeries. "The only disability in life is a bad attitude." I dove on the floor For The Vine to fight that one. 4/
And I HATED when nondisabled people saw 'cures' as the only solution. If you're disabled and you personally want a cure, that's fine! Valid! But autonomy, consent, these are what I fight for. No one should force you to change for their convenience. 4.5/ (Skipped a #; my bad)
In one of my books (I have books; they're not important right now), I wrote this exchange. In 2015. Long before I had ever heard of the words "social model". I was just so sick of nondisabled people pressuring disabled people into changing, instead of changing social barriers. 5/
So, when I got to @CDSLeeds , the social model seemed like the perfect tool to study disablement. Some disagree. No prob! All of your arguments are valid. But in the midst of misunderstandings and redefinitions, my own interpretation of the social model of disability is this: 6/
Yes, our bodies disable us. Obviously. I have a giant hole in my back. Sorta hard to miss. Because of my medical setbacks, I've faced countless times where I couldn't fully participate in society......but I could have participated a lot more, if aspects of society had changed. 7/
My PhD studies disabled uni students. I'm one of those. In undergrad, I got a kidney infection. Missed a week of classes. Arguably, that was on "me," because of my "disability". But it wouldn't have been as hard if attendance/late-work policies hadn't caused additional stress. 8/
I'm writing all of this while sitting on a 9-hour bus ride. I can't easily walk up the bus steps. That's on "me". Do you know what helps? Handrails. Wheelchair lifts. Understanding bus drivers. These ease the limitations/pain/anxiety that I have. They could have made it worse. 9/
That's why I prefer UPIAS' FULL quote. Social barriers/stigmas/ableism exist ON TOP OF personal impairments/disabilities/however you describe yourself. On. Top. Of. As in "one does not negate the other; they're more of a perfect fusion than Garnet". 10/
"But they're talking about physical impairments." Yeah, it was the Union of Physical Impairments. They were just trying to create a lens/tool that could specifically help THEM. A tool. It was never meant to be used by everyone, just like a hammer isn't expected to saw a tree. 11/
Both supporters/opposers of the social model need to understand that it was never meant to be used by/for everyone. Thus, you shouldn't praise it for being all-inclusive (it's not), nor should you bash it for not being so (it was never meant to be). 12/
In US political terms, I suppose I'm a "social model moderate". I get annoyed at those who view Oli/Barn/Fink as the Disability Gods who achieved perfection in 1990. I also get annoyed at those who outright dismiss the model because "I would still be in pain without society". 13/
You're in pain. I'm in pain. We're in pain. Life sucks sometimes. Life would suck a little less if social attitudes and ableist policies were changed to be more inclusive of everyone.
In my view, the social model is a tool that allows people to THINK about those changes. 14/
In my view, the social model is a tool that allows people to THINK about those changes. 14/
On a personal note, I DO get upset when a disabled person says, "It's my fault..." NO. You don't need to think so poorly of yourself. And neither do I. Which is why I battle my own depression/demons by trying to pass a bit of the blame onto an ableist world. But that's me. 15/
