Disability: a framework

As we’ve heard previously, we can think of developmental disability as comprising three components: the condition, the impairment and the disability.

We’ve now learned a little more about conditions and impairment, so let’s consider how these contribute to the experience of disability.

Disability is a complex term that people describe in different ways. In this step, Dr. Islay Mactaggart explains disability in the context of children with developmental disabilities. Dr. Mactaggart provides an overview of past and prevailing frameworks for understanding and describing disability. This includes the medical model, the social model and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, otherwise known as the ICF.

Dr. Mactaggart is an Assistant Professor in Disability and Global Health at the International Centre for Evidence in Disability and the International Centre for Eye Health at LSHTM.