Definitions and Concepts of Disability. Implications for the Life of Disabled People

For a long time, disability had been looked upon as a divine punishment. Later on medicine took over, explaining disability in terms of medicial deficits, “problems” – a perception that stayed the dominant for a long time. In the second half of the 20th century disabled people fought for the recognition of the social model of disabiliy, of disability as a social construction. The lecture will explore which consequences different perceptions of disability have for those concerned.