Disability

Disability, as quotidian as this may sound: means most obviously to lack ability. Literally, "not being able." As in somewhat permanently not being able to do something. Disability is impairment—a lack of ability that cannot be easily improved (such as through exercise)— such as lacking the ability to perceive certain colours can not be improved through mere physical exercise. It is an impairment that may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, sensory, or some combination of these. It substantially affects a person's life activities and may be present from birth or occur during a person's lifetime. Disability is the opposite of ability. To be prejudiced against those with disability is to be ableist.

There are different types of disabilities and not everyone is aware of them all. The most common disabilities include, Autism, ADHD, hearing loss and deafness, sight loss and blindness and physical impairment. Other types of disabilities that people do not categorise to be disabilities include, chronic illnesses, mental health, and intellectual disabilities.

History

The medical model of disability was the dominant view on disability in the modern era till the 1970’s. Disability was largely seen as a personal tragedy. Disease and injury were seen as something that needed to be cured, through medical intervention, for the individual to become ‘normal’ or ‘as normal as possible’ again. In the medical model, the focus is on the individual, who needs to put in effort, who needs to adapt to society, who needs to ‘heal’.

--- Geertrui Cazaux

Disability and abilitification

Humans have for most of history tried to restore abilities of some of the disabled, such as motive ability through wheel chairs and prosthetics. Reconditioning abilities is thus largely tied in with technology and its progress. In the cybernetic era, abilitification and cybernetic reconditioning as it were unavoidably blend together, blurring the boundaries of status as ‘disabled’, and, honestly, as ‘cyborg’ — this may seem humorous in the early 21st Century, but it is becoming less so as cybernetic prosthetics are already a reality and in developmental increase.

Prosthetification is bound to become increasingly cybernetic, the more cybernetic technological improvement and distribution increases. (Prosthetics.)

Ableism

Those perceived as disabled have historically met with not only prejudice, but killings for being perceived as belonging to that class.

See main article: Ableism.

Dictionary

1570s, "want of ability;" see dis- + ability. 

 == Rhizomata == — World Health Organization, Disabilities[1]

Disease; Medicine

Disability Studies; Social Justice

Anti-ableism;

Medically recognised disability