I'm going to use myself as an example of how disabilities can be created by impairments (medical model).
The emphasis on 'impairments' here comes about by my personal circumstances, in that I now have very little contact with social factors as I very rarely get out of the house - I'm a pseudo residential prisoner.
Within these four walls, my impairments and their effects are:
1. A degenerate lumbar scoliosis with a trapped nerve.
Loss of control of my left leg with a loss of balance leading to unsteadiness, clumsiness and falls. I have to use a wheelchair most of the time but I can stand precariously (for five minutes before acute pain) and move around using things like kitchen units for support. Pressure sores has been a recent developing problem but this been alleviated by equipment provided by community physiotherapy.
2. ESSENTIAL TREMORS - In capitals due to its everyday-allday de-skilling effects:
Inability to write anything longhand so no notes; difficulty in typing and keyboard skills; trailing and inadvertent duplication of letters; inaccurate aiming at chosen letters; difficulty separating pages in any paper document; fumbling, shaking and dropping cups and plates; as a musician since age 14, having had to give up playing my woodwind instruments.
And a huge disadvantage because of an inability to use some of today's technological developments: many facilities now are delivered via 'apps' on smart phones and tablets. I'm unable to use either of these as they require accurate finger tapping. So I'm excluded from many important facilities by a combination of the medical and the social model.
3. COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder).
The slightest physical effort brings acute shortness of breath: walking a few steps with a walking aid; singing; using my manual wheelchair; having a shower (I have to use a breath relief inhaler before every shower), and drying myself and dressing myself after the shower (I have to allow a good hour and 45 minutes for every shower). I have to sleep or semi-recline upright in a reclining chair - I can't use a bed.
COPD is a progressive disease and, according to recent approved research, very reactive to air pollution, especially to PM2.5 nano particles. Exposure to air pollution exacerbates breathing difficulties to the point where it can cause fatalities. I have refused, for several years now, to go near to the centres of urban population here in the UK.
4. Single sided deafness (in the left ear).
loss of stereophonic hearing is a curse, I fail to hear people speaking to me on my left side and I'm often classed as 'stand-offish' because of that; holding a conversation with somebody while the television is on is a gnat's whisker away from impossible as one drowns out the other. My wife often tells me, irritably:"I told you that ages ago." She may be right but she sometimes speaks while facing away from me and I fail to hear her in those circumstances. When I was able to travel outside the house, I often attended meetings (maybe about social and medical models of disability) but if 'workshops' were held using several groups of participants in the same room, I couldn't take part as the general background noise drowned out whatever the people on my table were saying to the workshop or even directly to me.
5. Peripheral Neuropathy caused by Type 2 Diabetes.
This is in both legs and feet. The condition causes a loss of sensation , mainly in my feet but that extends up toward my knee too. My latest diabetic review (Sept 2020) concluded the loss of sensation is now complete. This interacts with no.1 on my list, making personal balance even more precarious and increasing the risk of falls.
The neuropathy causes intermittent and unpredictable pain ranging from stilletto like stabbing, sharp electric shocks and grumbling aches. Sleep while this is happening is problematic in the least.
Of these elements, only the single sided deafness has any 'social' components. So, given my circumstances, I'm disabled primarily by 'medical model' impairments. IMHO, Disability Rights campaigners should give some thought to the absolute dominance of the Social Model.
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