Posts by diversitynz
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...there's a lot of talk of being reflective practitioners, and you certainly were a part of me taking stock of a few of my attitudes.
Thanks Jackie.
To this day, I still constantly doubt that what I am doing is the best thing (in fact I've developed a model that I use in my work that focuses on reflecting on the best thing to think, say and do). I think confident self-doubt is critical to generating quality practice. I think many -- not all -- areas of social services, education, govt, industry etc suffer from a lack of reflection and commitment to questioning practice.
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It's not the building and routines that make it a bad thing. It's always how we go about running them.
I agree also.
I was once asked my thoughts on systemic change. I said, it's a bit like driving. Give a bad driver a Rolls Royce and you'll be lucky to get where you want to go in one piece. Give a good driver a clapped out mini and you'll get there safely. And if they know about cars, even if it breaks down, they'll know how to fix it enough to get where you need to go.
Any organisation needs systems and people to drive them. But a great system with lousy people is ten times worse than a lousy system with great people.
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While those people with attention-seeking exhibitionist personalities (ie: performers, politicians or small children) may be perfectly willing to trade off blending in for getting their needs met...
LOL do I sense an implication?
... others just want an ordinary life with no fuss and without having to be part of some kind of freakshow to justify that. Whatever social change we pursue must acknowledge this.
I never talked about a freakshow, although again your implication that freakshows are somehow negative is interesting. Celebrating unique experience can be as introverted or extroverted as one wants to be.
But I disagree anyway. I think people want to be acknowledged as individuals just as much as being part of a group. And I think awareness of individual identity is a prerequisite to belonging anyway. How can you truly belong if you do not have a strong sense of who you are?
Belonging with no sense of identity is what we have in society now - people looking outside themselves to others, to the media, to religion, to politics - to define themselves, fearful that if they don't fit in they'll be cast out. It's what makes young kids struggle with their sexuality, join gangs, commit suicide.
The compulsion to belong -- ironically, I believe -- leads to isolation.
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I also have a story up on Humans from an Asperger woman who finds life hard to live and is anxious and angry about what's happened to her. Actually, if anyone wanted to do a good deed, a friendly and supportive comment under her story would be cool ...
Done.
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It's not much different at all (see below), except that "special" has taken on a schmultzy, sickening connotation, which "unique" doesn't yet have. It will, eventually, and we'll have to change language again to reflect new ideas, identity etc, in the same way that the changes catalysed by the civil rights movement was paced by language, ie. Negroes, Black Americans, African Americans.
Edward de Bono makes this point. He says that language is simply a symbol of meaning that changes as meaning changes. So he advocates changing langue to reflect as well as encourage changes in meaning. In fact he makes up words to avoid existing connotation "sticking" to existing words. The word "gay" -- a mneumonic [sp?] for Good As You -- is an interesting case of a hybrid -- it existed before and was a word made up by the gay community who rejected "homosexual".
Disabled people could do with making up a new identity descriptor, methinks.
spe·cial adj
1. distinct, different, unusual, or superior in comparison to others of the same kind
2. of the greatest importance
3. regarded with particular esteem or affection
4. unique to or reserved for a specific person or thing
5. made or used for a particular purpose or occasion
6. planned for a specific occasion
7. in addition to or more than is usual
8. designed or intended for educating children who have physical disabilities or learning difficultiesu·nique adj
1. being the only one of its kind
2. superior to all others
3. different from others in a way that makes something worthy of note
4. limited to a specific place, situation, group, person, or thingEncarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
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Link whore! ;-)
Just leveraging, Russell, just leveraging :-P
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OTOH, I get frustrated with the there's-nothing-to-fix mantra. Some AS people do have cognitive problems that really make their lives hard to live. I wish for the day when our younger boy gets over his eating problems. Most food looks, smells, feels and tastes repellent to him, which, obviously, severely limits his diet.
Ah, but is that about the value placed on eating food orally and tasting it? I have a friend in Adelaide who, because of his unique function, can't swallow many times of food. So he now has a food tube directly into his stomach. He now eats small amounts of what he can and supplements it with his "direct line". I saw him the other week and said I'd quite fancy getting one because, quite frankly, eating for me is tedious often and, at times, damn difficult, especially in public. I'd love the choice to eat just what was easy and enjoyable, while popping food into my belly directly for sustenance.
Why couldn't this be an option for your son? He could then just enjoy what he liked and not have to see, smell, feel or taste the rest.
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Curtis at Attitude tipped me off that this thread was hotting up - great to see. Thanks Russell for posting the clip and Hilary for the kind words. Bless.
I always feel slightly torn when considering contributing to these kinds of discussions around impairment and disability, mainly because the language used is so inconsistent and, in many cases, either confusing or just semantically inaccurate.
Disability, disabilities, disablement, different ability, physically/ intellectually challenged, mentally retarded etc...all are words used in such an ad hoc manner that they become meaningless in my mind. Sometimes they are used to define and categorise individuals; at other times to describe social processes; then again to paint a picture of behaviour. The only thing they have in common is that they serve to draw a comparison between what we interpret as a "normal" experience of being in this reality we call life, the world, society (look, more ad hoc, confused semantic redundancy).
Russell alluded to my talking about human diversity in place of disability on Wednesday night. That's part of it but I'm actually more interested in diversity of experience and how we describe and value it. For instance, look at our quest for "normality" and the high value we place on our children "being normal". What if we reframed "being normal" as "having a common experience" and revalued it as somewhat dull and boring? How tedious to experience life as a human being with the same physical, cognitive, emotional, social etc capacity as most other people. How would that change in value impact on us as human beings, individually and collectively? How would it change the world? If common experience became passe, old hat, would we all start hankering after a "unique experience" of life? Unique means "different in a way worthy of note", and having a unique experience is a much less emotive, constructive and interesting way of being different than being disabled (or having a disability for that matter). Who cares about medical diagnoses to explain why and how you are different from everyone else, when you are fascinated with being as different as possible from everyone else?
Alas, I forget how scared most people are of being different, let alone in a way worthy of note, and how important it is to fit in. Not to mention how our popular culture teaches us to catastrophise and demonise anything out of the ordinary. Personally, I blame soap operas and reality TV. I think people spend a lot of time trying to add drama to their lives to make them as interesting as Shortland St, Neighbours, Days of our Lives and Coronation St. Disability in it's current frame is all one needs for a lifetime of cliffhangers.
Great to have a rant - and now I can update my own blog for the first time in months.