Table 1.

Core claims of the medical model of disability, the strong social model of disability, and of the interactionist/ecological neurodiversity approach proposed here ¹

Medical model	Neurodiversity approach	Strong social model
• Disability reflects disorders, deficits, and diseases that exist within the disabled person • These diseases and disorders may be innate or they may have originated through developmental cascades and interactions with the environment, but either way, they exist within the person • Disability should be addressed by curing or normalizing the disabled person to make them more like an abled, typical individual	• Disability is the product of an interaction between the characteristics of a disabled person and the environment around them • Disability can be addressed by reshaping environments and society (e.g., by working to reduce stigma) or by changing an individual (e.g., by teaching them adaptive skills) • Curing or normalizing the disabled person should not be goals • Diversity of minds and brains should be valued and individuals with neurological disabilities should be accepted for who they are	• Disability is caused by barriers imposed on the disabled person by society • Individuals may have impairments in their minds and biology, but these impairments are not disabling unless society imposes restrictions on people with impairments • Disability should be addressed by reforming society to provide accommodations, increase accessibility, and decrease stigma and discrimination

¹As discussed in this article, different individuals can have different understandings of the neurodiversity approaches, and not all such understandings will include the specific claims and recommendations of this neurodiversity approach. These are prescriptive suggestions based on this article's discussion of questions and controversies within and around the neurodiversity approaches.