2. Models of disability

Contents: Plurality of interpretations, interpretative frameworks, context-dependence.

As the concept of disability encompasses an extremely diverse group of people, and given that the various specialist fields (rehabilitation sciences, special pedagogy, therapeutic pedagogy, medicine, sociology, psychology, etc.) approach the term from different perspectives, there is still no overarching theoretical framework (Egen & Waldhoff, 2023, pp. 191–192).

Models of disability therefore serve as interpretative frameworks that systematise different understandings of disability. They do not describe "disability in itself", but rather structure where disability is situated (individual, environment, society, discourse), how it is explained, and what lines of action follow from this (Hirschberg, 2022, p. 94). Models are therefore neither value-neutral nor purely descriptive, but are always linked to specific political, institutional and educational implications. They should not be understood as linear developments, but as coexisting perspectives that come into play differently depending on the context (Hirschberg, 2022, p. 94).