"Even the most physically-based disability is impairing only to the extent that the culture allows it to be. In a culture without paved roads, wheelchairs, and wheelchair accessible buildings, being unable to walk would mean being unable to go out in public, a very severe impairment. In a culture with these technologies, being unable to walk is much less impairing. Similarly, Braille means that being blind no longer means being unable to read and write. Sign language means deaf people can speak a full, rich language instead of whatever jury-rigged system of home-signs and gestures they can cobble together with their families. All these disabilities involve an obvious physical inability, but it would be profoundly misleading to talk about the severity of these disabilities without reference to the accessibility of their environments. All the more so for invisible, more ambiguous, brain-based disabilities...
The absence or impairment of a trait is only considered a disability when everyone is expected to possess it. For example, height is considered a desirable trait; taller people are considered more attractive (and taller men may receive higher salaries). However, being short is only considered a disability for a would-be basketball player. Similarly, although beauty is valued, we don’t expect everyone to be beautiful, nor do most careers or social roles require it. Thus, an ugly person would not be considered disabled unless he or she aspired to be a model. By contrast, we deem intelligence and its imperfect proxy measure, IQ, to be necessary for everyone regardless of profession, and so consider a significantly below-average IQ to be a disability...
having a disability often means having more trouble doing something that’s hard for everyone, more often. That’s one reason for the “curb cut effect”: assistive technology for people with disabilities often helps everyone. Inversely, inventions designed to make tasks easier for the general population disproportionately help those with disabilities...
recognizing the essential role of our environments in our functioning lets us take responsibility for achieving the right fit between ourselves and our life circumstances. We can choose to make small changes to our environments and the way we operate in them, ask for help, or leave in search of a better fit."
I went to a talk a few years ago about the biology/politics of disability and the speaker introduced a lot of these ideas. It is so helpful to define disability using the title of this article.
Related: Chronotype
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