Various models of deafness are rooted in either the social or biological sciences. These are the medical (or infirmity) model, the social model, and the cultural model. The model used can affect how deaf persons are treated and their identity. In the medical model, deafness is viewed as an undesirable condition, to be so treated. Within the social model, the design of the deaf person's environment is viewed as the major disabling factor. In the cultural model, the Deaf belong to a culture in which they are neither infirm nor disabled.
Physicians and scientists are often labeled as adherents of the medical model by "Deaf" individuals, who contrast it with their own cultural model. However, many of those who are so labeled dispute its validity. The social model seeks to illuminate the difficulties that deaf individuals face in their social environment.
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Famous quotes containing the words models of, models and/or deafness:
“Today it is not the classroom nor the classics which are the repositories of models of eloquence, but the ad agencies.”
—Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)
“The parents who wish to lead a quiet life I would say: Tell your children that they are very naughty—much naughtier than most children; point to the young people of some acquaintances as models of perfection, and impress your own children with a deep sense of their own inferiority. You carry so many more guns than they do that they cannot fight you. This is called moral influence and it will enable you to bounce them as much as you please.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“By deafness one gains in one respect more than one loses; one misses more nonsense than sense.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)