The Social Model of Disability states that people with impairments are ‘disabled’ by barriers in society that exclude and discriminate against them.
From a Social Model perspective, there is a radical difference between impairment and disability:

- Impairment is an individual’s physical, sensory or cognitive difference (for example, being blind, living with chronic pain, experiencing bipolar, having M.S. or a learning difficulty).
- Disability is the name for the social consequences of having an impairment. People with impairments are disabled by society. Disability is a social construct that can be changed.

We’ve taken the Social Model of Disability and applied it to the Labour Party. We have started to identify what the Party has to change in order to become inclusive of disabled people.
- About Mike OliverBritain is a country which once made and has now lost its Giant of Disability Rights Activism and Father of the Social Model, Professor Mike Oliver.
- Understanding Disability blogBlog by Nim Ralph. People are scared to talk about disability, often because deep down they are scared of disability. I find people do want to get it right – and that’s important. But, when what’s at…
- Mike Oliver – the inventor of the social model.Mike Oliver (3 February 1945 – 2 March 2019) was a British sociologist, author, and disability rights activist. He was the first Professor of Disability Studies in the world, and key advocate of the social model of disability. Mike sadly…
- The Social Model in Action: if I had a hammer.by Mike Oliver. 2004. Chapter 2 of ‘Implementing the Social Model of Disability:Theory and Research’. Introduction. A little while ago, Prime Minister Tony Blair stated that theLabour Government’s aim is: ‘To take down the barriersthat…
- National Disability Arts Collection & ArchiveNDACA is a £1-million project that brings to life the heritage and rich history of the UK Disability Arts Movement. The Disability Arts Movement began in the late 1970s and continues today. It involved a group…
- The individual and social models of disability.by Mike Oliver BA PhD. There is a danger that in discussing issue related to disability, that we will end up with more models than Lucy Clayton. This is dangerous in that, if we are…