Erste Schritte in die Physik für Gehörlose - sonderpaedagoge.de!

Madness and Disabilities: Interview with Geoffrey Reaume
Heilpädagogik online: Is this true only for subjects like Disability
Studies? While there is a turn to social or economic models in many
fields of the humanities, the "true" life is still massively influenced
by medical models as can be seen in the increase of ADHD during
the last years - after Ritalin became popular on the market. Isn't a
medical model more attractive for many people because it offers
clear causes and effects? Do you see a realistic chance of abandon-
ing this model?
Geoffrey Reaume: No, it isn't only Disability Studies which is
moving away from the medical model. We can see this in other
fields of study, including more critical interpretations in medical his-
tory itself which is the field in which I was trained. Social historians
of medicine have provided critiques of the way in which medicine
has been interpreted over the ages to provide more depth to our
understanding of the inter-section of the medical model with race,
gender, class and disability in recent years. However, I would agree
that "true" life is indeed still massively influenced by the medical
model as you note with ADHD and related "conditions" of everyday
life in which natural, exuberant activity amongst children are
pathologized, as one example among many. Yes, a medical model
is more attractive for many people due to its supposedly clear an-
swers and in many cases the medical model does indeed offer ap-
propriate and life-saving answers for people with disabilities. For
example, the treatment of spinal cord injuries, which I wrote a
book about ("Lyndhurst: Canada's First Rehabilitation Centre for
People with Spinal Cord Injuries, 1945-1998 [Montreal & Kingston,
McGill-Queen's University Press, 2007]), clearly has benefited from
medical intervention both historically and in contemporary times as
otherwise people in this situation would die. So I am not suggesting
that the medical model be completely abandoned as it does indeed
- 61 -
Heilpädagogik online 04/ 08