Disability on a Different Model: glimpses of an Asian heritage

The paper reviews common uses of models and terminology, then sketches a fe w social responses to disablement in historical Zouoastrian, Jaina and Daoi st philosophies. Accompanying a discussion of the 'merits of uselessness', Chuang-tzu's holistic social model is reconstructed. A Buddhist tale of 'hu nchback Khujjutara' suggests that karma may usefully be seen as an educatio nal, rather than retributive force. Contested histories of blind Japanese a nd Chinese people, and the dramatic enactment of contradictory behaviour to wards them, support the view that Asian meanings of disablement should not be forced into modern European categories, but may challenge and refresh th em.