Talk:Impairment

The distinction between impairment and disability

The 3rd item on the disambiguation list describes the medical POV of impairment in terms of the medical model of disability. The more widely accepted social model of disability makes a clear distinction between impairment and disability. Impairment is the medically defined condition that causes disability when the person involved interacts with their environment. For example: A spinal cord injury (medical condition) results in an inability to walk (impairment). In terms of the Social model it only becomes a disability when the person, now using a wheelchair, encounters an environmental barrier (such as stairs) or social dicrimination (refusal to employ him) that impedes his/her excercise of all the rights and freedoms that his/her non-disabled peers take for granted. Roger (talk) 17:40, 9 December 2010 (UTC)