Question

When people refer to the “medical model” of disability they are speaking of how disability used to be viewed as:

a. An illness that could be cured using modern medicine.
b. Something that required intensive hospitalization.
c. A medical problem caused by people who are born “wrong” or with “defects.”
d. A small version of a fatal human sickness.

Answer 1

c. A medical problem caused by people who are born “wrong” or with “defects.”

Step-by-step explanation:

The medical model of disability, widely used in the twentieth century had as its main feature the decontextualization of disability that was seen as an individualized problem. Thus, the medical model conceives disability as a biological phenomenon, that is, based solely on individual clinical characteristics, situated in the person, disregarding any interference from external factors. For example, there was the mentality that the disabled should adapt to institutions, such as schools, that is, the medical model did not create the conditions of accessibility by crediting the problem exclusively to the disabled.

As a counterpoint, the now widely used social model emerges, which conceives that the problem of disability is a problem of society as a whole and not just of each disabled individual. Thus, institutions must adapt to receive these people, just as accessibility must be created to include people with disabilities.