Disabled and Their Needs
Disability is usually defined as “a loss or restriction of functional ability or activity as a result of body or mind”. (Oxford English Dictionary) As a result of a definition like this disability is seen as a problem.
It has been widely accepted that disabled people generally have fewer opportunities and a lower quality of life than non-disabled people. Any action taken to remove the disadvantage suffered by disabled people depends on what is believed to be the cause.
There are two main ideas of what causes the disadvantage namely:
• the medical (or individual) model of disability,
• the social model of disability.