Patty Berne and Stacey Milbern present a social model of disability, explaining how universal design, adaptive devices, and meeting people’s access needs can limit the social, economic, and physical barriers that render physical impairments disabling in an ableist society. Milbern notes that focusing on individual impairments “lets society off the hook” for the structural oppression that renders some bodies and lives more valuable than others. Berne says “we are seen as disposable,” noting that the oppression that society ascribes to the individual body and disability is in fact a violent social construction.

The Empathetic Museum. [@empatheticmuseum] (July 6, 2023). “Reposted from @sinsinvalid #disabilityrights #disabilityjystice” [Video]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CuX1yofskb9/