The
social model of disability is a reaction to the dominant
medical model of disability which in itself is a functional analysis of the body as machine to be fixed in order to conform with normative values. The social model of disability identifies systemic barriers, negative attitudes and exclusion by society (purposely or inadvertently) that mean society is the main contributory factor in disabling people. While
physical, sensory, intellectual, or
psychological variations may cause individual functional limitation or impairments, these do not have to lead to
disability unless society fails to take account of and include people regardless of their individual differences. The origins of the approach can be traced to the 1960s; the specific term emerged from the
United Kingdom in the 1980s.