Which statement accurately contrasts the medical and social models of disability?

Which statement accurately contrasts the medical and social models of disability?

• A. Medical model sees disability as pathology; social model sees barriers in society as disabling.
• B. Medical model focuses on social barriers.
• C. Social model attributes disability to individual's impairments alone.
• D. Disability is purely a medical concept in both models.

Answer: (A)

Disability is understood through where the problem is located: inside the person or in the surrounding world. The medical model treats disability as a problem in the individual—an impairment or pathology that needs diagnosis, treatment, or rehabilitation. The social model shifts the focus to society, arguing that barriers in the environment—architectural inaccessibility, lack of accommodations, and stigma—are what disable people with impairments. So the best statement captures this contrast: disability as a medical issue within the person, versus disability arising from societal barriers that exclude or hinder participation. The other options mix up this distinction or misattribute where disability comes from: one implies the medical model centers on social barriers; another says disability under the social model comes from the impairment alone; and another claims disability is purely medical in both models.

Disability is understood through where the problem is located: inside the person or in the surrounding world. The medical model treats disability as a problem in the individual—an impairment or pathology that needs diagnosis, treatment, or rehabilitation. The social model shifts the focus to society, arguing that barriers in the environment—architectural inaccessibility, lack of accommodations, and stigma—are what disable people with impairments. So the best statement captures this contrast: disability as a medical issue within the person, versus disability arising from societal barriers that exclude or hinder participation. The other options mix up this distinction or misattribute where disability comes from: one implies the medical model centers on social barriers; another says disability under the social model comes from the impairment alone; and another claims disability is purely medical in both models.