A recent study by UCLA Health displayed that through a combination of drugs, physical therapy, and electrical stimulation, rats with permanent spinal impairments can reverse their paralysis. The results of this study are definitely a point of eager anticipation among disabled and able-bodied individuals alike; I can't help but feel some excitement thinking about the potential for this treatment to fix my own condition. However, the study's findings led me to reflect on a different topic: are we, as a society, so focused on curing disability that we forget to recognize the person behind the condition?
This line of thought might seem absurd at first. Why should we divert our attention from solving prevalent health issues when it is yielding so much success? I think a story from my AFM journey provides a good answer to this dilemma.
When I was 10 years old, doctors told me that a cure was on the way: I would have my arm back by the time I was 12. A plethora of studies, done primarily on mice, had shown promise in repairing a fully severed spinal cord. If this was truly possible, repairing my shoulder should have been a piece of cake. But the fact of the matter is that treatments like these take years upon years to go through their clinical trials. And often times, these treatments do not work particularly well on humans. Mice lived in a controlled environment, whereas humans do not; we have so much diversity, variation within us, that not all promising treatments make a difference. The reality is that treatments for these conditions are simply too far away to aid the disabled community. Therefore, our response should be to focus on the person behind the disability, to help these individuals find a supportive community where they feel empowered. We can't magically transform our bodies, but we can find a space where we belong.
This perception of disability aligns with a methodology called the Social Model of Disability. The Social Model essentially states that it is society's perception of disability, rather than the condition itself, which is inherently limiting. We need to stop viewing disability as a medical problem and start focusing on building community. It will take hundreds of years to medically "fix" disability, but it only takes a couple of minutes to correct our own perception of the disabled community.
Comments