With you, for the love
of children, since 1990
SNEHABHAVAN-KOTTAYAM (Home of Love) is a registered society, under the Travancore Kochi Literary Scientific Charittable Registration Act 1955 (Reg.no.K221/90) established in 1990 by a team of committed individuals under the leadership of a Jesuit Priest (late) Rev. Fr. Joseph Kannampuzha SJ, to work with persons with disabilities. The main mandate of Snehabhava- Kottayam is to work in the field of Disability on prevention, promotion as well as rehabilitative levels. The focus is on an early intervention in the lives of those differently abled and their families living in society’s service area. At present, Snehabhavan- Kottayam offer its Disability Services in Kottayam Municipal area and five other Panchayats namely Manargad, Aymanam, Arpookkara, Kanakari and Vijayapuram in Kottayam District, Kerala.
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Generally, a person with a disability is a someone who has a long-term physical, hearing, seeing, cognitive, mental or emotional impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity. Disability, however, occurs on a continuum and there is no clearly defined line between those who have a disability and those who do not.
At Snehabhavan, we understand disability through the social model of disability framework. The social model of disability is a way of viewing the world, developed by people with disability. This model of disability, which was developed by disabled people: activists who started the ‘Independent Living Movement’ (ILM). Social model theory refers to the social barriers imposed on disabled people (Hughes, 2010) and posits that these are "caused by the way society is organised, rather than by a person's impairment or difference" (Scope, 2016).
The “social model” says that disability is an interaction between the person and the environment—that people are limited by barriers in society, not solely by their disability. These barriers can be physical, programmatic or attitudinal. For example, buildings not having a ramp or accessible toilets, or people’s attitudes, like assuming people with disability can’t do certain things. Therefore, our job is to adjust the financial environment to meet the needs of all.
In contrast, the medical model of disability says people are disabled by their impairments or differences, and looks at what is ‘wrong’ with the person, not what the person needs. We believe that the medical model of disability creates low expectations and leads to people losing independence, choice and control in their lives.
Unlike the medical model, where an individual is understood to be disabled by their impairment, the social model views disability as the relationship between the individual and society. It sees the barriers created by society, such as negative attitudes towards disabled people, and inaccessible buildings, transport and communication, as the cause of disadvantage and exclusion, rather than the impairment itself. The aim, then, is to remove the barriers that isolate, exclude and so disable the individual.
The social model helps us recognise barriers that make life harder for people with disability. Removing these barriers creates equality and offers people with disability more independence, choice and control.
An illustration of the social model of disability in practice would be a town/city designed with wheelchairs in mind, with no stairs or escalators. If we designed our environment this way, wheelchair users would be able to be as independent as everyone else. It is society which puts these barriers on people by not making our environments accessible to everyone.
When barriers are removed, people with disability can be independent and equal in society. There are multiple barriers that can make it extremely difficult or even impossible for people with disability to function. Here are the most common barriers.