This paradigm is a construction of the disability and scientific communities alike and provides a mechanism for the application of scientific research to the goals and concerns of individuals with disabilities. The new paradigm of disability is neither entirely new nor entirely static. The term paradigm is used here in the quasi-popular sense it has acquired over the last 40 years to indicate a basic consensus among investigators of a phenomenon that defines the legitimate problems and methods of a research field. The construct of disability is located on a continuum from enablement to disablement. Personal characteristics, as well as environmental ones, may be enabling or disabling, and the relative degree fluctuates, depending on condition, time, and setting.
Disability is a contextual variable, dynamic over time and circumstance.
For example, on a societal level, institutions and the built environment were designed for a limited segment of the population. Researchers should explore new ways of measuring and assessing disability in context, taking into account the effect of physical, policy, and social environments, and the dynamic nature of disability over the lifespan and across environments. Research must develop new methods Research must develop new methods to focus on the interface between person and society. It is not enough simply to shift the focus of concern from the individual to the environment. All these enable individuals with disabilities and society to select the most appropriate means to accommodate or alleviate limitations.