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According to the World Health Organization, a disability is a restriction or lack of ability to perform an action within the normal range of human ability. Under U.S. law, a person with a disability is "Any person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment."[1] A person who discriminates against handicapped people is called an ablecentrist.[2]

Disabilities are not always apparent, nor are they always physical. Many kinds of emotional disturbances and mental issues have been ruled to be disabilities. Moreover, some long-term medical issues, such as emphysema, can cause one to become disabled.

In many traditional societies, those with disabilities were often held to possess supernatural abilities. Since the Industrial Revolution, those with disabilities have been, at best, pitied, and at worst discriminated against or killed. For a long time, people with recognizable disabilities have been relegated to beggardom, even if they were still capable of performing work. Eugenics has been particularly interested in eliminating mental disabilities in society through forced sterilization.[3] In Nazi Germany, people with neurological disabilities were victims of the Holocaust.


In most of the developed world, it is now illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities unless the disability in question would adversely affect job performance even with reasonable accommodations. Moreover, businesses must now make accommodations for patrons with such disabilities, within reason. However, it is felt within the disabled community that many businesses grossly exaggerate the costs of accommodation in order to get away with continued discrimination.

Social vs medical model of disability[edit]

The medical model of disability[edit]

According to the medical model, disability is caused by a defect in someone's brain or body. The disability can be "corrected" through routes like medication, intensive therapy, or surgery. If it cannot be erased, then according to the medical model, there is little that can be done.[4]

This model falls short when we consider traits like nearsightedness. Some people have objectively bad vision, so they wear glasses. Does that make them disabled?

The social model of disability[edit]

As a person with a mobility impairment, I am disabled by steps, stairs, escalators, being denied computer access as I can’t write by hand, inaccessible housing, and so on. To me, a flight of stairs without a lift as an alternative is the equivalent of right-clicking me and selecting “disable Lisa.”
—Lisa Egan, a wheelchair user[5]

According to the social model of disability, disability exists because of (1) an inability, and (2) societal failure to accommodate that inability.[6] Thus, someone who wears glasses is not disabled, because society has offered an acceptable work-around. A blind person, however, may not always have work-arounds like braille menus or braille books, and thus is disabled.

Thus, fixing disability isn't about changing the people, but about giving them equal opportunities. Accessible toilets, curb cuts, audiobook or braille versions of books, subtitles on movies, supported decision-making, sensory-friendly work environments, and other accommodations are examples of ways to include people with disabilities.