Disability as Cultural Difference: Implications for Special Education

This article critiques the treatment of disability as cultural difference by the theorists of the "social model" and "minority group model" of disability. Both models include all of the various disabling conditions under one term-disability-and fail to distinguish disabilities from cultural differences (e.g., race, ethnicity, or gender differences). Equating disability with cultural difference, they adopt a political strategy of positive identity similar to that used in other civil rights movements. The consequences of this strategy for the disability movement and special education are discussed.