BEHS 320: Disability Studies

BEHS 320 at the University of Maryland Global Campus is an interdisciplinary study of disability issues that focuses on understanding and evaluating traditional and current interpretations of the meaning of disability.

UMGC states that the objective is to communicate effectively in situations involving disability. Topics include portrayals of people with disabilities in the media and culture, societal attitudes toward and treatment of people with disabilities, institutional responses to disability in law, education, religion and the arts, models of disability, and current issues in disability studies.

The course challenges assumptions many people never question, especially the idea that disability is simply a medical problem located in an individual. Students do well when they make the models of disability explicit, compare them, and use them to analyze real portrayals, policies and settings rather than relying on a single unstated viewpoint.

What BEHS 320 Covers

Key Concepts Explained

The Medical Model

The medical model locates disability in the individual's body or mind as a condition to be diagnosed, treated or cured. It has driven important advances in care but can reduce a person to a diagnosis.

The Social Model

The social model, developed by disabled activists and scholars, distinguishes impairment (a bodily or mental difference) from disability (the barriers society creates). On this view, a building without ramps disables a wheelchair user more than the wheelchair does.

Other Frameworks

Course materials may also introduce approaches such as the moral or religious model (disability as moral meaning or test), the charity model (disabled people as objects of pity) and rights-based or cultural models that emphasize identity and community. Comparing models is a reliable way to structure analysis.

Analyzing Media Portrayals

Media analysis is a common BEHS 320 task. Look for recurring patterns: disability used as a symbol of villainy or tragedy, the "inspirational" story that exists mainly to move non-disabled audiences, the plot that ends with a cure, or characters defined only by their impairment.

Ask who tells the story, whether disabled people were involved in making it, and whether disabled characters have their own goals and relationships. Then connect your observations to a model: a portrayal centered on cure reflects the medical model, while one that shows a character navigating inaccessible places reflects the social model. This turns description into analysis.

Typical Assignments and How to Approach Them

Where Students Get Stuck

• One unstated model. Name and compare the models you use.
• Pity or inspiration framing. Avoid language that presents disabled people as tragic or heroic by default.
• Language choices. Both person-first and identity-first language are used; follow your instructor's guidance and the community's preference.
• Treating disability as uniform. Experiences vary widely by type of impairment and context.

Study Tips for BEHS 320

• Make a comparison table of models: core idea, strengths, limits, example.
• Read work by disabled writers and scholars alongside textbook material.
• Use UMGC Library databases for disability studies journals.
• Notice accessibility features and barriers in your own environment for examples.

How We Help with BEHS 320

Send the prompt, rubric, readings and any feedback. A social science writer can prepare a custom paper, explain the models of disability, or edit your draft for analysis, evidence and respectful language. For broader support, see our sociology assignment help guide.

GradeEssays is independent of the University of Maryland Global Campus. Our work is a study and reference aid to use under UMGC's academic integrity policy. Every order is written from scratch, includes free revisions within the scope of your original request, and is refunded in full if it is late.