Learning Outcomes

The Social Model of Disability was first articulated as a response to disabled scholars and activitists own experiences of discrimination (Oliver, 1990; Tregskis, 2004). The social model of disability proposed that impairment, or the physical/emotional/cognitive/sensory functioning of an individual, was limited as a way to understand disabled people’s experiences. Instead, they suggested that disability is the result of discrimination and social barriers that are present in attitudes and environments. While a person may have an impairment, barriers in society can disable their full access and participation (Parekh & Underwood, 2015) because of insufficient accommodations. This theory is the basis of Critical Disability Theory and Disability Studies, within which the Social Model of Disability has undergone extensive debate, evolution, and application in research and practice; including in understanding inclusive education models.

Theoretical frameworks in Critical Disability Scholarship

We now recognize that institutions and professionals construct disability through their processes and practices. Several social movements and theories are also influential in Critical Disability Scholarship.

Crip theory

Crip theory arose from queer theory and critical disability scholars’ decentring of “normal”. This theory focuses on the ways that ideas of normal hold power and activates spaces where normal is reconstituted as a political and social act. An example is crip time, an activist approach to our expectations for how long it takes to do things and what can happen in a given amount of time. Crip time is one approach to disrupting expectations for children’s development.

Disability justice

Disability justice is a social movement led by Black, Indigenous and disabled activists who aim to name ableism alongside colonialism, racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia as intersecting forms of oppression.

DisCrit theory

DisCrit theory is a position that examines Critical Race Theory and Critical Disability Theory. DisCrit theory has been important to critical education studies, especially with relation to the ways that special education and inclusion have enacted racism and ableism.

Social relational models

The social relational model of disability, and social the social relational model of deaf childhoods, focus on the social context as space where inclusion and exclusion take place. In these models, disability and deaf community are recognized as important space.

A social relational model of disability in childhood recognizes disability is constituted within social relationships and that disability is both an individual and a collective identity (Snoddon & Underwood, 2013; Underwood, Valeo, & Wood, 2012).

The two aims of these activities are:

1. To recognize the construction of disability in institutional and professional practice.

2. To identify different models of disability in professional discourses and procedures.

References

Autistictic: Autism and disability- Education and lived experience. (2022, February 14). Introducing the holistic model of disability. Autistictic: Autism and disability- Education and lived experience.
Briarpatch Staff (2022). What is disability justice?
Oliver, M. (1990). The Politics of Disablement. St Martin’s Press. NY: NY. Tregaskis, C (2004). Social Model Theory: The Story so Far. Disability & Society, (17) 4, 457–470.
Parekh, G., & Underwood, K. (2015). Inclusion: Creating school and classroom communities where everyone belongs. Research, tips, and tools for educators and administrators. (Research Report No.15/16‐09). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Toronto District School Board
Reindal, S.M., (2008). A social relational model of disability: A theoretical framework for special needs education? European Journal of Special Needs Education, 23(2), 135-146. DOI:10.1080/08856250801947812.
Snoddon, K. & Underwood. K. (2013). Toward a Social Relational Model of Deaf Childhood. Disability & Society, 29(4), 530-542.
Thomas, C. (2004). Rescuing a social relational understanding of disability. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 6(1), 22-36.
Tregaskis, C (2004). Social Model Theory: The Story so Far. Disability & Society, (17) 4, 457–470.
Underwood, K, Valeo, A. & Wood, R. (2012). Understanding Inclusive Early Childhood Education: A Capability Approach. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 13(4) 290-299.

Page updated May 2026.