What are the Medical and Social Models of Autism and Disability?

What is the Medical Model of Autism?

If Autism is looked at just through a Medical lens, then a definition may concentrate only on what is perceived as being ‘wrong’ with a person. This point of view ignores the person’s interests, abilities, strengths and needs.

The Medical Model perpetuates the myth that Autism is a disease, which it certainly is not. 

Some in the Medical profession speak of ‘treating’ or ‘curing’ Autism, which is a terrible injustice to Autistic people.

Of course, this is very offensive to Autistic people. Autism is not a disease. It is a life-long disability. The Medical Model disregards the feelings of Autistic people.  It assumes that they are incapable of independence and seeks to impose control upon them. 

History has shown that the Medical Model in practice has a profoundly negative impact upon an Autistic person’s confidence, identity and Mental Health.

What is the Social Model of Disability?

The Social Model states that many of the challenges and problems of Disability are something that is created by Society.  It is therefore important to identify the barriers to the inclusion of Autistic people in Society.  A major barrier to Social inclusion is the negative attitude of Neurotypical people to Autism, and this needs to change. 

Anyone who has typed ‘Autism’ into a search engine will know that the results that appear will be mostly negative, perpetuating the Medical Model views of Autism.  There must be an effort therefore to educate Society about the positives of Autism and to create a balanced view. We are not saying that Autism is without challenges.  Let us be plain: It is a Disability. But it is not all doom and gloom either.

One way to improve the situation in line with the Social Model is to encourage the use of language that is preferred by Autistic people, to describe their identity in a respectful and positive way.  For example, to use Autistic person (which validates their humanity). This is opposed to saying ‘with Autism’, which implies negatively that Autism is the equivalent of a disease.

The implication contained in the Medical Model is that Autism could and should somehow be removed from the person. Exposure to these views does damage to Autistic people’s self-worth, and holds them back from taking positive steps to improve their lives. Autistic advocates argue that Autism is an intrinsic part of their entire identity, and can never be removed. Having a strong sense of Autistic Identity is important in boosting Mental Health and well being.

Most often Autistic people experience stress and anxiety from their surrounding environment. This is the cause of the problems in many people's lives, from an early age at school, and into adulthood in the workplace. If we change the environment to accomodate the person's needs, then their anxiety will reduce and their ability to function will improve. Instead of making demands on the Autistic person (As with the Medical Model), if we create a low demand environment, then the person will have more mental energy to cope with the world around them. This will enable them to live healthy, happy lives.