Hello Cal and list
>I haven't gotten into this before, because I hate to admit how often I have
>failed "leisure skills training."
Unlike David, I often enjoy reading 20th
>century English-language philsophy; on the other hand, it takes about 2 1/2
>hours to obtain a moderate understanding of an hour-long drama on TV, and I
>never quite grasped the point of most of the other "leisure skills" I have
>been "trained" in.
If you are saying what I think you are saying here ie. that you were not
asked what you wanted to participate in and you were then not asked whether
you required any support and if so then what? Then I fully concur with your
sentiment.
Leisure services for people with disabilities like all other services do go
through changes. I imagine there are many horror stories about people's
experiences with these leisure/recreation services.
I still do see practices out there that make me squirm however I would say
that in NSW at least, leisure services have always been very responsive to
shifts in ideology. In 1986 when the DSA was introduced and we started to
hear about the principles and rights protected by this Act, it was a
welcome transition for leisure service providers because it fitted in so
well with the principles and elemental themes of leisure. Whereas
accommodation and employment services seemed more cynical about the
application of these principles.
My sincere wish is that the my Leisure students gain the understanding and
the committment to carry through their current beliefs and values into the
provision of services which challenge past service practice and government
policy, which constrain self-determination. They should be facilitating
lifestyle choices.
The priest was asking me today about places I go in the
>community, and I was only able to come up with the local office-supply store.
>(Actually, I like the office-supply store a lot. It is full of an exciting
>array of paper products and three-ring binders and so forth.)
If that truly IS the only place you go and you really DO like it then I
think that's a wonderful choice. If you are saying this because its the
only place you CAN go then that's unfortunate. Personally, I had a passion
for hardware stores and newsagents.
>I'm enjoying this thread mostly because I'm learning a little bit about what
>"leisure" means. What counted as "leisure," back when it was a Major
Priority
>in my life, seemed to change every time the staffing patterns get reworked,
>but it was never a pleasant activity.
Then what you experienced was not leisure. And whose priority was it?
Whoever facilitated this unpleasant experience was not really a leisure
service provider.
Leisure is a problematic concept which defies definitions and has a
different meaning for all people. My definition is:
A space within which one can choose: what to do; how to do it; and who one
does it with.
Mix this with the relativity of freedom and the barriers to choice and you
should be able to nominate anything you want as leisure..As long as you
create the requisites and you control the choice to participate. So even
employment tasks can be leisure, if that's what you deem them to be.
>Cal Montgomery
>[log in to unmask]
With best regards
Laurence Bathurst
University of Sydney
School of Occupation and Leisure Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
East Street (P.O. Box 170)
Lidcombe NSW 1825
Australia
Ph+ 61 2 9351 9509
Fax+ 61 2 9351 9166
E-mail [log in to unmask]
Note: This is the e-mail address for my home as well
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There is not one shred of evidence that supports the notion that life is
serious.
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