The Social Model of Disability underpins the Disabled People’s Movement’s approach to promoting equality and inclusivity for our community.
The Social Model says that people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their impairment or difference. Barriers can be physical, like buildings not having accessible toilets. Or they can be caused by people’s attitudes to difference, like assuming disabled people can’t do certain things. Within the Social Model, we say that society is responsible for removing the barriers Disabled people face, in order to enable us to be an equal, included and valued part of society.