This article critiques the treatment of disability as cultural difference by the theorists of the "social model" and "minority group model" of disability. Both models include all of the various disabling conditions under one term--disability--and fail to distinguish disabilities from cultural differences (e.g., race, ethnicity, or gender…

The authors note that identification as having emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) is generally acknowledged to be stigmatizing. The stigma associated with identification as needing special education for EBD (or any other disability) could be reduced by talking in readily understood language about differences, accepting the reality of…

Proponents of a social model of disability derive their arguments from social constructionism. They combine different disabling conditions under one term: disability. Subsequently, they apply the specific viewpoint of the disability rights social movement of people with physical disabilities to other conditions such as intellectual disabilities,…

Ethical issues regarding children with disabilities have long involved their treatment after they are born. These issues remain important, but children may be deliberately created with or without characteristics that are usually thought of as disabilities. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and related technologies that involve human…