Hi Everyone
Paul wrote
> We will never eradicate all types of disability but, surely, it can not be
> promoted as a positive lifestyle choice. Would the second hand car salesman
> be willing to be the person to create the disability, no matter how strong
> the argument in favour of it ?
I would not choose to be a Moslem woman or a trappist monk either
but many, many people do. As such, it is a totally legitimate and
acceptable reality that can be promoted as a positive lifestyle choice.
Notions or meanings of freedom and contraint are socially
constructed also and as such, shift in meaning according to culture -
time and place. As socially constructed objects, ones experiences
and the meanings they ascribe to their experiences or situations are
going to be fairly unique whilst the interpretation of meaning will
probably eventuate from an interaction of dominant and other
discourses. (Why am I telling you this???)
I encounter people from time to time who say they would not swap
their experience of aquiring a disability if they had the choice.
These people claim it to be a positive thing for them, which has
provided them with opportunities to pursue enriched lifestyles with a
what they may describe as a healthier perspective on life. The
negative aspects of disability seem to be a small price to pay.
Obviously this is the view of some but not all, and their are other
roads to enlightenment, however, I would be hesitant to throw out the
notion of choice altogether when it comes to lifestyles.
Best regards
Laurence Bathurst
School of Occupation and Leisure Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
University of Sydney
P.O. Box 170
Lidcombe NSW 2141
Australia
Phone: (62 1) 9351 9509
Fax: (62 1) 9351 9166
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Please visit the School's interim web site at
http://www.ot.cchs.usyd.edu.au
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Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious
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