Valuing disability as a part of one’s core identity is a principle of social empowerment.
Yet, to be sure, understanding the roles of environment and public attitude in the creation of disability does not necessarily preclude a wish for medical treatment or for being less different.
The social model assumes that disability is malleable and a product of culture. Understanding disability as fundamental to human existence and shaped by society has become more widespread since the 1960s. Some people place disability in a category similar to ethnicity, skin color, and gender.
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