‘People with disability’ – putting the person first

THE population of people with disabilities (PWDs) has long been under-recognised, underserved and often generalised as a universal figure in a wheelchair.

The latest statistics from Malaysia’s Department of Social Welfare indicate the country had 548,195 individuals who registered a disability in 2019; this figure is expected to rise in tandem with the global trend of instilling disability awareness among the public. There is improved access to care for PWDs, enabling this cohort to live longer while facing a lower risk of comorbidities.

Coverage of PWDs in the media has also expanded, with terms like “differently abled” or “specially abled” being used instead of “disabled” or “handicapped”. Although the US Democratic National Committee coined the term “differently abled” to create a non-offensive alternative to “handicapped”, disability activists now argue that such euphemisms would drift the public away from acknowledging disability as an integral value of diversity and identity.

Elizabeth Wright, Australian disability activist and Paralympic medallist, feels that labelling PWDs as differently abled downplays the historical and ongoing sociopolitical struggles experienced by this group of people.

Disability itself is diverse, ranging from people with visual and physical impairments requiring mobility aids to a person with dyslexia struggling to read, to a child with autism having trouble making friends, to a middle-aged adult coping with long-term pain due to the chronic medical condition systemic lupus erythematosus.

The World Health Organisation, which uses the term “people with disability”, evokes the undeniable fact that at some point in our lives, we would experience disability, whether temporary or permanent. The definition of disability itself describes a dynamic entity: “The interaction between individuals with a health condition and personal and environmental factors”.

This multifaceted aspect of disability pays homage to the biopsychosocial model that was coined by American internist and psychiatrist George Engel in 1977.

The model describes biological, psychological and social factors that influence a person’s medical condition. This model has been adapted to describe both health and disability, recognising the importance of psychological factors such as attitude, behaviour, coping skills, and social factors made up of education, family background and social support as well as socio-economic status.

The biopsychosocial model of disability empowers PWDs by refuting the previous medical model of disability that advocates medical intervention to “cure” people of their disability. It also challenges the social model of disability that places the blame on society for setting up barriers that keep PWDs from fully participating in society.

Following Malaysia’s signing and ratification of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008 and 2010 respectively, the rights of PWDs should not be overlooked, and they should be referred to in a manner that respects their individuality.

Consequently, “people with disability” should be made the appropriate term to use in all forms of spoken or written communication as this advocates that the person should be rightfully addressed before the disability.

Using correct terminology, particularly in mass media channels, is an integral step towards promoting disability inclusion in society.

DR AISYAH AHMAD FISAL

Dental specialist

Special Care Dentistry

Faculty of Dentistry

Universiti Malaya