Erste Schritte in die Physik für Gehörlose - sonderpaedagoge.de!

Madness and Disabilities: Interview with Geoffrey Reaume
help people with disabilities as many people who live these experi-
ences can attest from their own perspectives. I don't believe that
there is a realistic chance of abandoning this model and I wouldn't
recommend it either, since this would have the potential of replac-
ing one form of orthodoxy with another in a way that would dimin-
ish, rather than improve, the ability of people to make informed
choices about what they need to live their (our) life. Rather than
abandon the medical completely, I would argue that the use of al-
ternative, non-medical treatments needs wider support from state
health insurance plans, in Canada for example, such as in regard to
treatment by chiropractors or acupuncture therapy. More holistic
treatments which respects influences beyond the medico-biological
interpretation of disability, whether physical or mental, need to be
supported and promoted to allow people greater choice in what
they can access in their daily lives. For example, non-medical crisis
intervention in the mental health field is one such example with
peer supports at Soteria House in the United States as a good ex-
ample (see: http://www.moshersoteria.com/soteri.htm). Not ev-
eryone who experiences mental health crises wants medical inter-
vention but there isn't much choice out there, in fact there is very
little choice so more needs to be done to curtail the monopoly
which the medical model has enjoyed in disability history through-
out the past century.
Heilpädagogik online: We were talking about the medical and the
social model. Is there a religious model as well?
Geoffrey Reaume: Yes, there has been a religious model of dis-
ability, in various incarnations, since ancient times which has vari-
ously cast disability as an evil omen from the gods, all the way to
received wisdom from on high and to an object for pity, charity and
- 62 -
Heilpädagogik online 04/ 08