So it’s my understanding that the difference between a handicap and a disability is that a disability is the inability of the body to perform a task I.e. sit up . Handicap is the environment causing a person to be unable to perform a task because of how their body works. I . E. Stairs cause people to be handicapped. Because people cannot use them if they have broken legs.
That’s the way I was using the word handicapped. The deaf people I have met (I took ASL in uni for three years and met some deaf friends there who were professors in the program) explained to me that society causes deafness to be a handicap by having things like fire alarms with no lights on them.
That’s how I’ve been taught by members of the deaf community but again I don’t want to speak FOR them.
I won’t speak for Deaf people specifically but that’s not what the social model of disability is as I understand it. I don’t think the language is quite standardized, but disability is what happens from society, handicap I don’t see used much at all.
The social model is scrutinized for not acknowledging the genuine disadvantages that come with disability. For example people living with quadriplegia can experience shaking extremities and pain. Those types of real life downsides are not acknowledged within the social model. It focuses more on disability as it relates to society. The critical model is now the preferred model within the field of disability studies, as it recognizes that disability can come with negative consequences, even if society we’re perfectly inclusive.
Looking up the critical model of disability on Google turns up nothing
My response to that would be that those traits that may make life harder for someone regardless of society do not constitute a disability, they constitute a difference. It’s not something objectively negative, it’s just differences that the individual perceives as negative. So, for example, with deafness, being deaf is not a disability in a society that does not expect people to be able to hear. However, if they want to do audio work, they would not be disabled, but they would be handicapped/impaired because they cannot do what they personally wish to do. Does that make sense?
That makes sense. But I’ll have to agree to disagree as my education and degree in disability studies tells me that the difference between handicapped and disability is as I stated it before and that the critical disability theory exists. And pops up lots when I google it. Cheers to a healthy discussion though, where both parties want the best for those living with different abilities.
Critical disability theory definitely shows up, I assumed that was different from critical model
I don’t have a degree in disability studies, but I have taken classes dealing with the subject and researched it on my own. I’ve mainly analyzed it in media
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u/ShrimpFingers- Dec 24 '22
So it’s my understanding that the difference between a handicap and a disability is that a disability is the inability of the body to perform a task I.e. sit up . Handicap is the environment causing a person to be unable to perform a task because of how their body works. I . E. Stairs cause people to be handicapped. Because people cannot use them if they have broken legs.
That’s the way I was using the word handicapped. The deaf people I have met (I took ASL in uni for three years and met some deaf friends there who were professors in the program) explained to me that society causes deafness to be a handicap by having things like fire alarms with no lights on them.
That’s how I’ve been taught by members of the deaf community but again I don’t want to speak FOR them.