disability

EAPM suggests using the following definition of the disability, based loosely on a reading of the WHO and ADA:

Disability is a lived experience and identity that comes from a from a physical, mental, neurological or behavioral condition, or a history or record of having such a condition, or a person who is perceived by self or others as having such a condition. It results from an interaction of health, environment and/or personal facts (such as illness, genetic conditions, trauma, etc.). It is part of being human and is integral to the human experience.

However, disability is defined in multiple ways.

A dictionary definition of the word disability is:

A noun.

  1. The condition of being disabled; incapacity. The period of such a condition.
  2. A disadvantage or deficiency, especially a physical or mental impairment that interferes with or prevents achievement in a particular area.

For many people, disability is a lived experience.

It is also a legal term. In the U.S., disability is defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA) and by Social Security for the purposes of Social Security Disability and Social Security Insurance. For the most part, the U.S. government uses the ADA definition of disability as a standard across agencies. This definition is: individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all types of disabilities.

The World Health Organization describes disability as “part of being human and integral to the human experience,” and a result of the interaction between health, environmental, and personal factors.

Doctors, psychologists and other health care professions have often examined disability through models, including but not limited to:

  • social model
  • moral model
  • medical model

As disability activists continue to lead discussions, some have proposed examining disability through ableism or implicit bias, while others have proposed examining it through accessibility. Because of this, new models of disability continue to be proposed and defined.

Chapter D