Social Model of Disability

A framework originating in disability studies and activism that views disability not as an inherent deficit in an individual but as the result of social, environmental, and political barriers that exclude people with impairments from full participation. Introduced by Michael Oliver, the social model focuses on removing barriers in policy, built environments, and social attitudes rather than "fixing" individuals. While foundational to disability rights movements and accessibility practice, the social model has been critiqued for potentially erasing embodied experiences of disability by locating disability entirely in society. It remains a key theoretical lens in accessibility research.