"Are you Disabled?" (April 15 blog post by woman with ME)

[Dolphin]

April 15 blog post by woman with ME.


Looks at and explains models of illness & disability e.g. Medical Model, BioPsychoSocial Model & Social Model


Explains why the social model of disability is not a perfect fit for ME e.g. even with support many won't be able to work full-time


Discusses a little the new report on the PACE Trial and the biopsychosocial approach, "In the Expectation of Recovery".


https://tipsforme.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/are-you-disabled/

 

[taniaaust1]

good question "are you disabled?", my states disability service deems ME/CFS people not disabled as they view it instead as a "sickness". (a cop out to prevent them having to provide disability services for ME/CFS something I have got a court case against them for currently).

There is so much politics which go into words as "disabled".

So are you "disabled" or "sick"? How you are termed can and does affect things for many of us. One of these words over the other can mean whether you will be given the support you need or not.

 

[justy]

Im also considered sick, but because it is chornic and I cant walk due to PEM and need a wheelchair I can also be disabled - its difficult when social care providers don't agree if you are sick or disabled.

 

[Mrs Sowester]

I identify as disabled and describe myself as having limited mobility. Yes, it took a few years to accept it, for the first 3 I had the belief that I would get better and thought of myself as ill. Now I accept my condition as a chronic disability, having my application or a blue badge accepted a few years back really hit home.

 

[Jenny TipsforME]

I identify as disabled and describe myself as having limited mobility. Yes, it took a few years to accept it, for the first 3 I had the belief that I would get better and thought of myself as ill.

One of the things I touch on in the post is the tension between hoping to get well and identifying as disabled which seems like a permanent identity change. Another way to see it can be that even if we get back to 100% we can still identify on a personal level as Disabled, because we'll still have had the lived experience of being disabled. We'll always see the world differently due to our experience of ME.