Talk:Medical model of disability

Whoa, the lede is messed up
I'm really not sure how to fix it but the first sentence of the lede is totally incoherent. Correct me if I'm wrong but a "medical model" in this context is a sociological term used to describe the way that doctors are trained and how they are trained to think. So this isn't a model that describes how disabilities affect people, it's actually a model that describes how the modern school of medicine shapes the way we (and more relevantly, doctors) think about disabilities. It's meant to contrast with the "Social Model". This becomes sort of clear once you read the second paragraph. But surely I'm not alone in thinking that first sentence makes absolutely no sense once you know the real context of the term?

Jalamookoofoo (talk) 21:06, 13 December 2016 (UTC)

Who invented this model?
Mike Oliver, who coined the term social model of disability claims that there is no such thing as the medical model of disability. So who invented this model and where is it defined? Is it real or just a strawman model that proponents of the social model for target practice? Without answers to these questions, the article is not very credible. --ChristopheS (talk) 14:48, 4 September 2009 (UTC)


 * The medical model in fact predates the social model. See . I've been staring at the phrase "medical model of disability" but its only when I stated searching for "medical model" without "of disability" that a whole new bunch of sources have become apparent - try it.
 * The "inventor" of the term/concept Medical model was R. D. Laing. Laing formulated it in terms of his opposition to orthodox psychiatry but the model is broadly applicable to the orthodoxy of modern scientifically based allopathic medicine in general. Laing published the concept before Oliver and the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation came up with the Social model of disability. Roger (talk) 11:52, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

A few possible sources for this article

 * http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/teaching/disability/thinking/medical.html
 * http://www.copower.org/leader/models.htm
 * http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/demographics-identity/dkaplanpaper.htm
 * http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)62043-2/fulltext (The Lancet is a highly respected medical journal)
 * http://www.ru.org/human-rights/the-history-of-disability-a-history-of-otherness.html
 * http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book/companion.asp?id=21&compID=43&page=2
 * http://www.cilt.ca/Documents%20of%20the%20CILT%20Website/Ind_Living_Medical_Model.pdf
 * http://www.springerlink.com/content/m67102253n540465/
 * http://www.frame-poythress.org/frame_articles/1999Medical.htm
 * http://www.worldofinclusion.com/medical_social_model.htm
 * http://www.ju90.co.uk/nimr/model.htm
 * http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:wGJi23D1470J:dplif.wefsdsds.iim.bz/ (Added - see the above section) Roger (talk) 11:56, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Ok, that's enough for now, it's way past bedtime here... Roger (talk) 23:08, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

Another one - http://www.museumstuff.com/learn/topics/medical_model Roger (talk) 12:04, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

going to close the merger proposal shortly
Given Roger's "motherlode/load", etc., I'm going to close out the merger proposal. Roger, I trust you'll do what you can on your own time to integrate the sources you found into their respective spots in this article..? Just thought I'd mention it. Thanks all. Kikodawgzzz (talk) 05:58, 2 December 2010 (UTC)


 * The word is "lode", it's a geological term meaning the main vein of ore. See Mother lode. "Load" is something entirely different. LOL! Roger (talk) 06:28, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, I wasn't talking about a sexual 'load', I was talking about "load" in the sense of "a load of something" as in "many/much of something". :) But okay, thanks for that, because now, I know the meaning of "lode", which I did not know before. I have learned something new today!! hehe... Kikodawgzzz (talk)

Possible Contributor
Inspired Motivator194 (talk) 21:46, 29 April 2015 (UTC) I am hoping to contribute to this page. User:Inspired_Motivator194/Individual Model of Disability

Merge Proposal
Hi all, I am working on Medical model of disability and the article has a wiki-link back to this article. It seems like this article titled "Medical model" is really the "Medical model of disability". I propose "Medical model" be merged into "Medical model of disability". Am I wrong are they two different models? If not, thoughts on merging? Jackiekoerner (talk) 20:37, 6 June 2017 (UTC)

Criticism section source
There's no reference for any of the information in this section, but I'm particularly interested in finding a source for this quote, even though the entire section is paraphrased. Do we know who wrote it? ″"Uncritical reliance on the medical model produces unwanted consequences." Sdsures (talk) 04:16, 10 September 2019 (UTC)

This article contains a criticism section while the social model counterpart does not
Full disclosure: I support criticism sections and am opposed to the social model of disability, so I am super biased here. But per Wikipedia convention, the criticism section should be integrated, especially since the opposing camp's article had theirs integrated. It definitely creates an imbalance.

I'll recuse myself from other issues with the article. 2603:7081:1603:A300:909A:E3A9:FF32:C558 (talk) 21:00, 11 October 2023 (UTC)