Abstract
Two opposing models of disability exist; the medical model and the social model. The medical model focuses on disability as the result of one or more physical defects of the individual body; while the social model focuses on how barriers in society construct disability by limiting the participation of particular groups of people. This chapter introduces a disability model based on Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theories. The model depicts how human development is formed through a dialectical process between biological maturation (the natural line of development) and participation in cultural forms (the cultural line of development). Under normal circumstances, for a typical child, the natural and the cultural line of child development support each other. However, this is not the case for a child with disabilities. The often problematic development of children with disabilities arises and develops from an incongruence between, on one hand, the biological development of the child and on the other, the structure of cultural practices (in institutions, families, etc.) in which the child is living. Furthermore, the chapter introduces to cultural-historical developmental theories and central concepts such as zone of proximal development, the child as social agent, the social situation of development, motives and demands.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Anastasiou, D., & Kauffman, J. M. (2013). The social model of disability: Dichotomy between impairment and disability. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 38, 441–459.
Avramidis, B., & Norwich, E. (2002). Teachers’ attitudes towards integration/inclusion: A review of the literature. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17(2), 129–147.
Bang, J. (2009). An environmental affordance perspective on the study of development – Artifacts, social others, and self. In M. Fleer, M. Hedegaard, & J. Tudge (Eds.), Childhood studies and the impact of globalisation: Policies and practices at global and local levels (pp. 161–181). New York: Routledge.
Bickenbach, J., Chatterji, S., Badley, E., & Ustun, T. (1999). Models of disablement, universalism and the international classification of impairments, disabilities and handicaps. Social Science and Medicine, 48, 1173–1187.
Bøttcher, L., & Dammeyer, J. (2013). Disability as a risk factor? Development of psychopathology in children with disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34, 3607–3617.
Cicchetti, D., & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.). (2006). Developmental psychopathology: Theory and method (1) (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.
Daniels, H., & Hedegaard, M. (Eds.). (2011). Vygotsky and special needs education. London: Continuum.
Dreier, O. (1999). Personal trajectories of participation across contexts of social practice. Outlines, 1, 5–32.
Dreier, O. (2008). The conduct of everyday life and the life trajectory. In O. Dreier (Ed.), Psychotherapy in everyday life (pp. 181–197). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Edwards, D., & Middleton, D. (1988). Conversational remembering and family relationships: How children learn to remember. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 5, 3–25.
Ferm, U. (2006). Using language in social activities at home. A study of interaction between caregivers and children with and without disabilities (Gothemburg monographs in linguistics). Göteborg: Department of Linguistics, Göteborg University.
Florian, L., Hollenweger, J., Simeonsson, R. J., Wedell, K., Riddell, S., Terzi, L., & Holland, A. (2006). Cross-cultural perspectives on the classification of children with disabilities: Part I. Issues in the classification of children with disabilities. The Journal of Special Education, 40, 36–45.
Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Gottlieb, G. (2007). Probabilistic epigenesis. Developmental Science, 10(1), 1–11.
Gresham, F. M. (1982). Misguided mainstreaming: The case for social skills training with handicapped children. Exceptional Children, 48(5), 422–433.
Haywood, H. C., & Lidz, C. (2007). Dynamic assessment in practice. Clinical and educational applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hedegaard, M. (2002). Learning and child development. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
Hedegaard, M. (2009). Children’s development from a cultural–historical approach: Children’s activity in everyday local settings as a foundation for their development. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 16, 64–81.
Hedegaard, M. (2012). Analyzing children’s learning and development in everyday settings from a cultural-historical wholeness approach. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 19(2), 127–138.
Højholt, C. (2012). Communities of children and learning in school: Children’s perspectives. In M. Hedegaard, K. Aronsson, C. Højholt, & O. S. Ulvik (Eds.), Children, childhood and everyday life: Children’s perspectives (pp. 199–215). Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
Juenger, H., Linder-Lucht, M., Walther, M., Berweck, S., Mall, V., & Staudt, M. (2007). Cortical neuromodulation by constraint-induced movement therapy in congenital hemiparesis: An fMRI study. Neuropediatrics, 38, 130–136.
Karmiloff-Smith, A. (1998). Development itself is the key to understanding developmental disorders. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2, 389–398.
McDermott, R. P. (1993). The acquisition of a child by a learning disability. In S. Charklin & J. Lave (Eds.), Understanding practice. Perspectives on activity and context (pp. 269–305). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mehan, H., Hertweck, A., & Meihls, J. L. (1986). Handicapping the handicapped. Decision making in students’ educational careers. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Norwich, B. (2002). Education, inclusion and individual differences: Recognising and resolving dilemmas. British Journal of Educational Studies, 50(4), 482–502.
Pennington, L. (2008). Cerebral palsy and communication. Pediatrics and Child Health, 18, 405–409.
Reindal, S. M. (2008). A social relational model of disability: A theoretical framework for special needs education? European Journal of Special Needs Education, 23(2), 135–146.
Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rutter, M., & Rutter, M. (1992). Developing minds: Challenge and continuity across the life span. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Sameroff, A. J. (2009). The transactional model of development: How children and contexts shape each other. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Shakespeare, T. (2006). Disability rights and wrongs. New York: Routledge.
Skrtic, T. (1999). Learning disabilities as organisational pathologies. In R. J. Sternberg & L. Spear-Swirling (Eds.), Perspectives on learning disabilities (pp. 193–226). New York: Westview Press.
Solity, J. E. (1991). Special needs? A discriminatory concept? Educational Psychology in Practice: Theory, Research and Practice in Educational Psychology, 7(1), 12–19.
Stiles, J. (2000). Neural plasticity and cognitive development. Developmental Neuropsychology, 18, 237–272.
Stiles, J., Reilly, J., Paul, B., & Moses, P. (2005). Cognitive development following early brain injury: Evidence for neural adaptation. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 136–143.
Thomas, C. (2003). Disability theory: Key ideas, issues and thinkers. In C. Barnes, M. Oliver, & L. Barton (Eds.), Disability studies today (pp. 38–57). Cambridge: Blackwell.
Tomlinson, S. (1982). A sociology of special education. London: Routledge.
Trevarthen, C., & Aitken, K. J. (2001). Infant intersubjectivity: Research, theory, and clinical applications. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42(1), 3–48.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. The development of higher psychological process. Cambridge, MA: Harward University Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1993). The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky, Vol 2: The fundamentals of defectology. New York: Plenum Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1998). The collected work of L.S. Vygotsky, Vol 5: Child psychology. New York: Plenum Press.
World Health Organisation. (1980). International classification impairments, disabilities, and handicaps (ICIDH). Geneva: World Health Organisation.
World Health Organisation. (2001). International classification of functioning, disability and health (ICF). Geneva: World Health Organisation.
World Health Organisation. (2007). International classification of functioning, disability and health: Children & youth version (ICF-CY). Geneva: World Health Organisation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bøttcher, L., Dammeyer, J. (2016). Beyond a Biomedical and Social Model of Disability: A Cultural-Historical Approach. In: Development and Learning of Young Children with Disabilities. International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development, vol 13. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39114-4_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39114-4_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39112-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39114-4
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)