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ABSTRACT In this paper we argue that a new model of disability is emerging within the literature by disabled people and within disability culture, expressed most clearly by the Disability Arts Movement. For the purposes of discussion we call it the affirmative model. It is essentially a non-tragic view of disability and impairment which encompasses positive social identities, both individual and collective, for disabled people grounded in the benefits of lifestyle and life experience of being impaired and disabled. This view has arisen in direct opposition to the dominant personal tragedy model of disability and impairment, and builds on the liberatory imperative of the social model. Critiques of the latter have been consistently expressed as, or interpreted as, re-affirmations of personal tragedy, particularly in relation to impairment. In this analysis the affirmation model addresses the limitations of the social model through the realisation of positive identity encompassing impairment, as well as disability.
'Proud, Angry and Strong'
The aim of this paper is to explore and trace the emergence of a model of disability which arises out of disability culture. For the purposes of the paper we call it the affirmative model. It is essentially a non-tragic view of disability and impairment which encompasses positive social identities, both individual and collective, for disabled people grounded in the benefits of life style and life experience of being impaired and disabled. This is succinctly expressed by the title of Johnny Crescendo's song, which is well known within British disability culture and has been often performed at disability arts events: proud, angry and strong. As argued in this paper, this model is significant in theoretical terms, addressing the meaning of 'disability', but also more directly to disabled people themselves, in validating themselves and their experiences. It is significant, too, in understanding the `disability divide', that is the divide between being disabled and being non-disabled.
To develop this exploration, we first consider contrasting perceptions and understandings of disability and impairment, in terms of the basis provided for an affirmative model. We then examine differing expressions and manifestations of the personal tragedy model, as it is the rejections of the presumptions, representations and values of this view of disability which has laid the foundations for an alternative affirmative model. In...