Unit 26: Caring for Individuals with Additional Needs

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Unit 26: Caring for Individuals with Additional Needs

Additional Needs Task 2

Models of Disability

The medical model views disability as a problem of the person, directly caused by disease, trauma, or other health condition which therefore requires sustained medical care provided in the form of treatment. In the medical model, management of the disability is aimed at a "cure”, or the individual’s adjustment and behavioural change that would lead to an effective cure. In the medical model, medical care is viewed as the main issue, and at the political level, the main response is that of modifying or reforming healthcare policy.

The social model of disability sees the issue of disability as a socially created problem and a matter of the full integration of individuals into society. In this model, disability is not an attribute of an individual, but rather a complex collection of conditions, many of which are created by the social environment. The management of the problem requires social action and is the collective responsibility of society at large to make the modifications necessary for the full participation of people with disabilities in all areas of social life. The issue is both cultural and ideological, requiring individual, community, and large-scale social change. From this perspective, equal access for someone with a disability is a human rights issue.

The main principle of the holistic model is that people should be treated as thinking, feeling people who are members of a family and who have physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Health professionals should consider all these needs, not just the health problem the person has. The holistic model tries to stop disabled people from being seen as “just someone with a disability” and aims to make them seen as people with their disability simply a minor aspect of them.

The aim of the normalisation model is to enable people with disabilities an opportunity to live and experience the same sort of daily, weekly routines, activities, education, employment and relationships etc. as anyone else in the general community has, without fear, ridicule or discrimination. All of this is looking at what the person wants, their specific needs, and their limitations.

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Barriers

People with disabilities face many barriers every day, which can range from physical obstacles in systemic barriers in employment and civic programs. Yet, often the most difficult barriers to overcome are the attitudes other people have towards people with disabilities. These attitudes can be born from ignorance, fear or misunderstanding, these attitudes prevent people from appreciating and experiencing the full potential that a person with a disability can achieve.

Types of Attitudinal Barriers

Inferiority: Because someone is disabled some people will believe that makes them a “second-class citizen”.

Pity: People feel sorry for the person with a disability, which tends to ...

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