learning disability theory is founded in the medical model of disability, in that disability is perceived as an individual deficit that is biological in origin. researchers working within a social model of disability assert that there are social or structural causes of disability or the assignation of the label of disability, and even that disability is entirely socially constructed. since the turn of the 19th century, education in the united states has been geared toward producing citizens who can effectively contribute to a capitalistic society, with a cultural premium on efficiency and science. more agrarian cultures, for example, do not even use learning ability as a measure of adult adequacy, whereas the diagnosis of learning disabilities is prevalent in western capitalistic societies because of the high value placed on speed, literacy, and numeracy in both the labor force and school system. in the bigger picture, these points demonstrate how the label of disability is socially constructed and represents a lack of fit between western conceptions of educational institutions and proper students.