May 2025
As a local Labour group affiliated with Disability Labour, we are proud to support disability rights, accessibility, and inclusion. In this piece, Keegan Hillier, Kingston Labour’s Disability Officer, explores the social model of disability, why it matters, and how it can shape more inclusive legislation and communities. We are committed to raising awareness, challenging barriers, and promoting equality for all disabled people.
Disability, as defined by the 2010 Equality Act, is having a physical or mental ‘impairment’ which has a substantial and long-term negative effect on your ability to do ‘normal daily activities’. This includes a wide range of mental and physical conditions, ranging in severity and persistence. For example, people with dynamic disabilities, where the symptoms of their conditions vary, may sometimes have no or very little impairment on their ability to do daily activities. However, when their conditions are flaring, they can have substantial difficulties. If their conditions are long-term, and thus their symptoms are as well, they are disabled, despite sometimes being able to perform to an able-bodied standard. Mental health conditions, like depression or OCD, also count as disabilities when they have a substantial long-term effect on your ability to do normal daily activities; as such, they are not inherently disabilities, but often sufferers are disabled due to having these conditions.
The medical model of disability sees disability as impairments within the person, to be fixed, with a focus on treatment and management of conditions. The alternative social model of disability first came about in the 60s, rising in influence in the 70s, as a response to this medical model. The social model sees disability differently, as impairments imposed on disabled people by an inaccessible society, and seeks to fix the society that impairs disabled people, rather than placing blame on the disabled person for the manner of their existence. The medical model is still the model prioritised by many professionals in healthcare today; however, the social model is prioritised by many disability rights groups and activists – including Kingston Labour’s affiliates, Disability Labour – who push for it to be the way in which legislation is formed for disabled people. By shifting the blame of inaccessibility away from the person, towards the society that has never been built to accommodate that person, it becomes clearer that ableism is a systemic problem that needs to be tackled as a collective force, rather than being relegated to the sidelines of discussions. All the good intentions in the world can’t make up for unaddressed systemic injustice.
You may hear the social model of disability brought up more often with the controversial Welfare reforms on the way; disability advocates believe that in order for more disabled people to get into work and more involved in society, we need to fix society, rather than just focusing on moulding disabled individuals to fit a little better. Applying this to the welfare reform bill, many have suggested that strengthening legal protections for disabled people, and putting in legislation to make workplaces more accessible, would be more beneficial to getting people off of Universal Credit and into the jobs market. This is something the medical model of disability does not cover, given its focus solely on the disabled individual, but as no disabled person exists in a vacuum, it seems nonsensical to many that we should dismiss the social theory.
The social model of disability is not just a force by which disability advocates and campaigners fight against injustice and structural ableism; it is also essential to teach young disabled people that they should not internalise their problems, nor feel guilty for being different. In the same way that representation matters for young people, education and understanding are also essential. With the way that society is built, and the attitudes projected towards disabled people, young disabled individuals often feel they are at fault for having disabilities, whether they feel they are making things difficult for friends and family, undeserving of being in public places, or any number of other beliefs which negatively impact on mental health, social prospects, and self esteem. If we look to the positive change being brought in through the Inclusion 2028 project, by adapting teaching methods to suit disabled people, the social theory in action will bring new opportunities to thousands of disabled children.
When disabled people’s disabilities are addressed solely via the medical model, whilst treatments and managing conditions can help with the symptoms, the impact of societal pressure and inequality has been neglected and is left to worsen over time. It is reasonable to say that the medical model should be followed, as management of conditions can increase a person’s quality of life; however, to deny the importance of the social model – to deny utilising what it teaches to restructure society and invest in accessible solutions that benefit all people – is where the problem lies. For example, treatments may help reduce a disabled person’s pain, but they may not necessarily help fix someone’s mobility, meaning this person is still impaired via their socially-made struggles, such as being unable to use public transport without assistance. Unless decision makers apply the social model of disability to their thinking, working to snub out the root causes of society’s inaccessibility, society will remain inaccessible.
In our local community, we see the power of the social model and its potential for good. At KCIL, for example, trained teachers have created a set of lessons to develop disability understanding, helping disabled people to feel normal with their peers and teaching all children how to be a little better towards disabled people in general society. Shine Bright UK offers a range of activities for anyone to attend, including chair based exercise classes, for free, giving people a more accessible way to keep fit, without having to pay a luxury price. By ensuring disabled people are spoken about, heard, and given space to exist in society, community programs show off the importance of the social model and make the Kingston community a more diverse place where anyone can thrive.
The social model of disability is a core aspect of disability activism. Whilst no one person can fix the whole world through simply being aware of the social model, a widespread awareness of it can help individuals become better disability advocates. Being aware of the nature of struggles disabled people face is often a huge part of helping us. Spreading awareness and understanding is more powerful than you might think; so keep the social theory in mind the next time you encounter inaccessibility in your daily life. If you see a dangerous pathway, raise it with the council, or ask your local Labour Party to lobby for you. Remember to move your bins off of the pavements once they’ve been collected. Ask your local shops to display they welcome guide dogs. Simple things can make a huge difference. And the people of Kingston Constituency Labour Party will be behind you all the way.
To learn more about the social model of disability, as well as to get a brilliant, in-depth personal account of disability and society, please check out ‘The View From Down Here’ by Lucy Webster. Her autobiographical book is available on the Libby app, which library card members can use for free. It’s a great way to support our libraries and learn something new.