What I CAN do: Part I

This last weekend I spoke with two people who said very similar statements. “I would not be as capable as you are if I had a disability.” I am paraphrasing but coming from different people in such a short time in varying circumstances set my mind to ponder. I, at the time commented that “you do not know what you are able to do until you are set the task.” or ”No one know innately how to be adaptable.” evolutions since of humor has not allowed for that yet. One of the individuals conceded that you could go on with life if she was shown how, which is the right attitude I think. As I said this it got me thinking, of the various form disabilities take and the accommodations that can be arranged. I am going through some frustrations with the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) around my own accommodations for the LSAT. The medical model of accessibility has been the prevailing understanding for decades. However, I found in the following quote from Micheal Waterstone an associate dean and professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, presents a well stated example of a more sociopolitical model of disability as the medical model is re-examined.

“doctors serve as gatekeepers to benefits: fear of fraud. But starting in the 1960s, another more empowering view of disability began to emerge. Fed up with medical professionals exerting control over their lives, people with disabilities urged a new and different view of disability.
Under this view, it is not entirely an individuals impairments (meaning what is different within their body or mind from a "norm") that create a disabling condition; rather, it is society's response to those impairments. To use a simple example, if an individual who uses a wheelchair approaches a building that only has stairs to the entrance, is the individual "disabled" because they are in a wheelchair, or because a building has been built without a ramp? Many disability rights advocates would urge the latter understanding. “

If you would like to read the intire article it can be found here http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_16200411
More to come on this subject.