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Looking Beyond the Diagnosis

By Gloria Odongo, M.S.

Stratification has become an accepted norm in our society, where people are “boxed in” and labeled
based on social constructs. According to the Department of Educational Policy Studies (2011), “The frame-
work for the medical model places the individual with a disability as needing to be cured in order to have a
normal life, while the social model of disabilities focuses on how society is constructed around able-bodied
individuals without substantive consideration for individual differences – specifically disabilities”. These
misconstrued constructs eternalize the skewed perception of people diagnosed with Intellectual and De-
velopmental Disabilities, without a focus on their strengths and abilities.

Here at EPIC, we understand that the people we support are people first and not labels. Having worked in
the field for several years, I often find myself educating those around me who perpetuate the stereotype
of labels based on a diagnosis. It is discouraging that societal constructs on disabilities have allowed inapt
language to seep into our day to day vocabulary. For instance, stating that someone is “Autistic” or
“Schizophrenic” reinforces the disease model, whereby the focus is on the diagnosis and not the person.
Advocacy requires us to continually reaffirm that people are not their diagnosis. It is unheard of to refer to
someone with Dementia as “Dementia”. The disease model that has been ascribed to people diagnosed
with a Mental Illness or people who have been diagnosed with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
is unequivocally inconsiderate.

Advocacy requires us to look beyond the diagnosis and look at the person and their capabilities. At EPIC
we pride ourselves in cultivating the strengths of the people we support as opposed to focusing on labels
which are essentially a barrier to their development. Looking beyond the diagnosis means being cognizant
of the language that we use as we interact with the people we support as well as each other. It also means
breaking down barriers each day and identifying ways in which the dreams and aspirations of the people
we support can be achieved. Empowering the people, we support at EPIC means continually acknowledg-
ing and reaffirming that their dreams and aspirations are valid, and that a diagnosis does not define who
they are, or what they are capable of achieving.

Gloria Odongo, M.S., Director of Residential Supports Services, joined the agency in December 2017,
and has worked in the field of Human Services for over 10 years. Gloria has a background in Behavioral
Health Counseling, and Administration of Human Services, and is currently pursuing a 2nd Masters in
Professional Counseling.

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