The social model of disability was created by disabled people, primarily as a result of society’s response to them but also because their experience of the health and welfare system made them feel socially isolated and oppressed.
“People with impairments are disabled by the fact that they are excluded from participation within the mainstream of society as a result of physical, organisational and attitudinal barriers. These barriers prevent them from gaining equal access to information, education, employment, public transport, housing and social/recreational opportunities. “However, recent developments promote inclusion. Anti-discrimination legislation, equal opportunity policies and programmes of positive action have arisen because it is now more widely recognised that disabled people are unnecessarily and unjustly restricted in, or prevented from taking part in, a whole range of social activities which non-disabled people access and take for granted.”
Extract above taken from The Social Model of Disability by Grant Carson, a SAIF publication 2009.