How Disability is Defined

The question of how to define disability has been debated for many years. In the 1980’s, the World Health Organization’s definition separated disability from the environment, explaining that the environment becomes disabling when it is not accessible or does not meet people’s needs.

This concept has evolved into a social model of understanding disability.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities does not define disability but rather describes it as “an evolving concept and that disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and active participation in society on an equal basis with others”. The convention describes people with disabilities as including people with long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.

The community of people with disabilities agrees with this social model and also supports the self-identification of disability where people determine for themselves whether they have a disability. As much as possible, initiatives and actions designed to fulfill this strategy will support the social model.

Sometimes it is necessary to define disability for specific purposes of a program or legislation. These definitions will be different from each other depending on what the specific program or legislation provides.