My first response was immediate, accurate and precise. On reflection let me
enlarge on it: Terminology like 'specialist', 'expert', 'consultant' are - and
justly so - being regarded with great suspicion, as they frequently hide a
great deal of ignorance and stupidity. Since the man who collects my rubbish
is now (jokingly I hope) referred to as a 'garbologist' and the man who tries
to sell me a 'pre-loved car is known as a 'sales consultant, it can also be
observed that there is an unbelievable arrogance about it. It smacks of all
thewisdom knowledge and experience of a '21 year old graduate who has read a
book'. In real life there is no such thing as a specialist. In the world of
disability, regardless of where we come from, we all carry learner plates, and
if we have empathy a lot of humility.
Have a good time, rgds John
Laurence Bathurst wrote:
> Hi folks
>
> Fist off I want to congratulate John Homan on his succinct and well
> articulated comment re the use of the term 'Disability Specialists'.
> What I find interesting (and difficult) is the NEED for students of
> various health related disciplines to have a professional title (or what
> they perceive as a professional title).
>
> Words such as therapist, professional, and specialist are very
> attractive to people who want to gain specialised knowledge. There
> was merry hell to pay when our School changed the name of a
> course from ...........therapy to a non job-role specific name.
> Students were aghast. In the job role however, our graduates would
> be known mostly as ...................workers.
>
> I do not discount however that our graduates do have expertise in
> providing leisure services to people who have a disability and who
> require some sort of facilitation or support to access leisure.
> Graduates are expected to facilitate opportunities for leisure for
> people with a disability (which often requires community education).
>
> This idea of 'professional title' and the difference between
> 'professional role' is a strange one. We have to hammer it home to
> students throughout the course of their study. They are generally
> OK by the time they graduate. Keeping the health hierarchy out of
> Health Sciences is no mean feat.
>
> > Hi Beth and all
> > It seems problematic on the face of it. I think that outsiders to
> > dis studies would perceive it as someone with expertise in the
> > conditions/impairments people have, rather than expertise in
> > disability as we define it within dis studies. I wonder also about its
> > use in describing those who "work with disabled people." What do those
> > workers do? What is theri expertise? If their work is in individual
> > intervention - whether educational, medical or psychological - it
> > seems inaccurate to describe them as disability specialists.
> > simi linton
> >
> > ---Beth Omansky Gordon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Hi everyone!
> > >
> > > I would appreciate your opinion about the title of "Disability
> > Specialist"
> > > for people who work with disabled people. Does this title connote the
> > > "expert" status we try to avoid?
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > >
> > > Beth
> > >
> > > Beth Omansky Gordon
> > > The George Washington University
> > > Washington, D.C., USA
> > > [log in to unmask]
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > ==
> > |~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|
> > Simi Linton
> > [log in to unmask]
> > 212 580 9280 (phone and fax)
> > |~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|
> >
> > _________________________________________________________
> > DO YOU YAHOO!?
> > Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
> >
>
> 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
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--
[InternetShortcut]
URL=http://proxy.networx.com.au/
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|