Constructing Prevention: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the Problem of Disability Models

Author: Vedder, Julie

Source: Journal of Medical Humanities, Volume 26, Numbers 2-3, September 2005 , pp. 107-120(14)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

Both the medical model and the social model of disability have substantial drawbacks for the project of creating better lives for people with disabilities; the first denies the value of difference and the effects of discrimination, and the second denies any place for prevention and cure. Using fictional and non-fictional parental narratives of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, this article argues that a third model–a morphological model of disability–can best help us think about respectfully and effectively intervening in disability.

Keywords: disability studies; medical model; social model; Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10912-005-2913-3

Affiliations: 1: Department of English, West Virginia University, P.O. Box 6296, Morgantown, WV, 26506, Email: julie.vedder@mail.wvu.edu

Publication date: 2005-09-01