The true nature of “disability” is neither the mere functional limitations of individuals, nor the difficulty of performance which results directly from such limitations. “Disability” is oppression, discrimination, social exclusion and restriction of participation which is socially constructed and imposed upon people who are regarded as different in terms of body functions and structures. Therefore, disabled people are neither less-able nor in-able, but are disabled by the society which takes little or no account of people who have different functions and structures.
This perspective on “disability” is called the Social Model of Disability, which forms the conceptual foundation of Disability Equality Training (DET). DET is a disability education concept which aims to promote understanding of disability from the Social Model perspective and facilitate proactive actions to break disabling barriers in our society. DET uses facilitated and
participatory learning approaches in its training methods.