Alec Ramsdell wrote:
> ---Doyle Saylor <djsaylor at primenet.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hello everyone,
> > Alec Ramsdell writes:
> > Marta, do you think the medical model of addiction, with all its
> > trappings of the essentialized disease model, and with its possible
> > subsuming of other conditions, is in step with the way disability as a
> > category is kept flexible for the sake of economic and political
> > interests, as you write about in your book?
>
> Oh no, I wasn't saying Marta keeps it open. I can't remember the
> exact title, but it's the section in Beyond Ramps of the political
> category of disability. How disability is defined by law in
> determining benefits.
>
> -Alec
What I was getting at is that disability is not an "objective" definition or etched in stone. The definition of disability can be manipulated by the government to constrict access to benefits. As Alec mentioned, alcoholics are no longer deemed disabled by the state. It has little to do with the reality of being alcoholic but rather more to do with the political economy, "saving" the government outlays of cash.
Alec, I want to respond more at length to y our post later but I have appointments now.
Marta