Stubblefield Medical Model

Reflecting on class readings, lecture notes and class discussions, I became aware that medical model are not always the best practice. Medical model does not look at an individual holistically. Stubblefield (2009) explained that medical model looks at how individual function mentally and physically and based this on whether the individual is sane or insane. This practice seem not the best as it conflict with so many elements. An individual should be access holistically to evaluate any form of environmental factors that can hinder the progress of an individual. As in the case of my son.
When my son was in grade 8, his teacher called me for a parent meeting. At the meeting, the teacher informed that my son has attention deficit. Since this is
new to me, I probe further for more information as to what she meant by attention deficit. She explained that when my son finished his assignments, he would walk around asking his classmates if they needed help, and he would help them. Furthermore, my son’s teacher explained that they have refer my son to the psychologist for evaluation, and will let me know the result. Puzzled and confused, as to what this might mean for my son’s future, I patiently await their result. About a week later, this teacher called me for another meeting. At the meeting, she informed me that the result concludes that my son suffer from attention deficit and would be refer to see a specialist.
While at the specialist, the specialist retested my son.
He advised me not to put him on any medication, as there is nothing mentally wrong with my son. His suggestion was to buy him omega 3 fatty acid to be taken every day to promote brain functioning. He further advised me to enrol him in sports because my son seem to get bored easily. Fortunately, the specialist came from India. He explained, how the system misdiagnose black people in which the system construct individual as being mentally disabled but many people are unaware. He further stated that he only shares this information with me because I am from Africa and our culture is similar, had it been someone else he would prescribed them medication and from there on, label has having mental dysfunction. Bernard and Daniel (2015), argues, “The concept of cultural competence denotes working with cultural groups other than one’s own (Kobin, 2002) and “the ability to transform knowledge and cultural awareness into health and/or psychosocial interventions that support and sustain healthy client-system…” (p.822). I believe the specialist acted accordingly due to his cultural
competency.
Situation such as this, will have someone thinking about how many people falls a victim of this social construct of disability…how many are on aware or not told that there are other alternative to medical treatment, or how many doctors misdiagnose clients due to social construct of disability? Stubblefiel (2009) argues that environment that an individual live can subject them to be disable if certain criteria are not met, such as social skills, mastery of certain intellectual, and competitive accomplishment. In this circumstance, the school is categorised as the environment in which they see my son has having attention deficit.
What the teacher failed to realize is that my son is bored and need something to occupy his time.
She should have inquired if he need something to do and then provide him with extra work to keep occupied or better yet ask my son to assist her while others engaged in their work. This is a teenage boy, teenagers need to engage in doing something to occupy their time or else they become restless. Assuming the doctor actually prescribed a medication, this is how my son will be label by medical model as being disabled. Thinking back now, I felt my son was oppressed and stigmatized by his teacher, rendering me powerless to act based on their conclusion and bias mind that all children who are restless has attention deficit. My judgment might be wrong but then it might not be. My utmost priority as a parent is the best interest of my son. The teacher and the psychologist might taught they are looking for the best interest of my son. However, my perspective was
different.
In Bernard (2015) lecture notes, she asked “In order for change to occur in my social work practice…, I must act accordingly to be a change agent and be prepared to face any obstacles that may confront me in the process while upholding justice. The role of the social worker in this case will be to talk to my son, inquire as to why he like to walk around assisting his classmate when he finished his assignments, ask what he likes to do, what types of sports he is interested in etc. After gathering this information, the social worker can then make recommendation to the mom as to what programs to enrol her son in since he is a very active boy. Doing this, will promote the boy wellbeing and eradicate the stigma of being label as having attention deficit.