Analogies for Models of Disability

Photo of plants on a shelf by Jonathan Wolf on Unsplash

 
I've read some excellent essays and memes comparing the medical and social models of disability. My biases about disabled people and disability slowed down my understanding. I had to come up with analogies to explain it to myself. (I love analogies.)

If the tallest person habitually puts things on the highest shelf, you could consider anyone who can't reach those items to be deficient. You could make them responsible for getting outside therapy to teach them to jump to get things down. You could make them responsible for always carrying a stepstool with them. You could complain how much of their teacher's or boss' time is wasted getting things down for them and use that as a reason to segregate them in special classrooms or a special category of jobs that pays less. That's the medical model of disability.

Some interventions designed for autistic people go further in that direction. Some ABA and social skills goals are like saying "Jumping and stepstools are too distracting for other people so pretend you got your supplies down. People don't expect there to be problems getting supplies so you mustn't talk about your experience."

Accepting that different people can reach different shelves, matter-of-factly communicating with people about what they can comfortably reach, and planning ahead so that everyone can reach the things they needs is implementing the social model of disability. 
 
I approve of and aspire to use the social model of disability. I, personally, have two hurdles to implementing and promoting it:

1) I was raised with a taboo against pointing out difference between people and I was taught to avoid topics that might make someone else uncomfortable. While it's always hard for me to initiate conversation, it's extra hard for me to start with something like "I notice you have a mobility aid, what can I do..." (Let me be extra clear that this is my issue and it's my responsibility to work on it. Using a mobility aid doesn't give anyone additional conversational responsibilities.)
 
2) While I feel well-respected in text media, during in-person interactions where the communication is mostly verbal I rarely have the social leverage to get my suggestions considered.

An integral part of the social model of disability is the idea that a person's abilities don't, by themselves, determine whether that person is abled or disabled. It's the interactions between each person's abilities and their environment that determines disability.

If everyone's abilities stay the same but magically all stairs are replaced by ladders overnight then more people will be disabled tomorrow. 
 
If everyone's abilities stay the same but magically overnight all text is three font sizes smaller, then more people will be disabled tomorrow. 

And in the opposite direction, if everyone's abilities stay the same but overnight all stairs are changed to ramps and elevators and all text is bigger, fewer people will be disabled.

So if the environment and abled people's habits are big factors in disability, it's compassionate and practical to improve them.