Topic Progress:

Having a disability means

A person with a disability is usually defined as a person who has a long-term or recurring physical, mental, sensory, psychiatric or learning impairment (United Nations, 2007).

Disability is (…) not just a health problem. It is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives. Overcoming the difficulties faced by people with disabilities requires interventions to remove environmental and social barriers (World Health Organization, 2015).

An estimated 3.8 million adult Canadians reported being limited in their daily activities due to a disability in 2012. This represents 13.7% of the adult population (Statistics Canada, 2012).

People with disabilities represent the largest minority group in Canada, and the only minority group that any of us can become a member of at any time.

Different Perspectives on Disability

There are different ways to look at and define disability. Medical professionals, government administrators and people with disabilities may use the word disability in very different contexts, with very different meanings. Definitions of disability have also shifted over time, as we have seen more and more people with disabilities included in mainstream schools, colleges and workplaces. Two common ways to look at disabilities are the Medical Model and the Social Model.

Click on the accordions below to expand and learn more about the two models.

The Medical Model
The Medical Model is a more traditional view of disability, that emphasises diagnosis and treatment of medical, psychiatric or learning impairments. In this model, the conditions experienced by people with disabilities and their possible solutions are focussed on the individual. Professionals carry out assessments to identify the disability and then suggest special equipment or accommodations to reduce its impact. For a student who has difficulties walking, for example, medical professionals would provide a wheelchair to help them get around.
The Social Model
The Social Model of disability is more recent, but has become very influential in the last thirty years. It looks at how people with disabilities are restricted by their surrounding environment and by society. This model of disability aims to remove barriers in the environment that stop people with disabilities from participating fully in society. For example, many public spaces are now designed to be fully accessible to people using wheelchairs. This perspective on disability also shows that a person may consider themselves as being disabled in one situation but not in another. For example, a person with a visual impairment may experience disability when trying to access room numbers that are located too far away for them to read, but that same person may not experience disability when having a conversation on the telephone, as they do not experience a limitation in this context.

Both of these views of disability have value and most college disability services aim for a combination of the two. In this course we will look at individualized supports for students with disabilities, as well as ways to make colleges accessible and remove barriers for all students.

Case Study

In this video several different people, with and without disabilities, talk about what disability means to them.

Reflection Questions: How do you view disability? Has your view of disability changed over time? If so, are there reasons behind this change?

The Spectrum of Disabilities

In the classroom, instructors may meet students with a wide range of different disabilities. These could range from chronic health conditions and physical disabilities, to compulsive behaviors and learning disabilities. Some people are surprised to learn that mental health problems and substance abuse are also types of disability. This lesson will give an overview of some of the visible and invisible disabilities that instructors may come across in their classrooms. For more information on specific disabilities, the website Supporting Students with Disabilities is a fantastic resource for instructors.

Online InstructionsFacilitator Notes

Consider the following questions and jot down your responses in your learning journal:

  • Have you encountered any disabilities in your classroom?
  • Which disabilities would you like to learn more about?
  • Which disabilities are visible and which are invisible?

Group Discussion Questions:

  • Have you encountered any disabilities in your classroom?
  • Which disabilities would you like to learn more about?
  • Which disabilities are visible and which are invisible?