The Story of Different Minds  ·  Rights movements  ·  1960s onwards

Disability Rights and the Social Model

Disabled people began forcing society to hear their own analysis.

The story changed when disabled people spoke for themselves.

Simple version

The disability rights movement challenged the idea that disabled people were only patients, burdens or objects of charity.

The social model of disability argued that people are disabled not only by impairments, but by barriers created by society: inaccessible buildings, prejudice, poor communication, exclusion and inflexible systems.

Why it matters

This was a major shift. It moved the question from what is wrong with this person to what is wrong with the environment, policy or attitude around them.

That shift shaped law, activism, education, employment and access.

Awareverse lens

This is central to Awareverse. The person is not the problem to be fixed.

Often, the system, environment, expectation or interpretation is the thing that needs changing.

Deep dive topics from this chapter