In reply to Beth Omansky Gordon, Leane Dunstan wrote:
>
>It is my personal opinion that 'disability specialist' does imply an elite
>status. To be a specialist in any area requires a bank of specialist
>knowledge, I feel most people with a disability come with a better
>knowledge base than most professionals.
>
>I would like to suggest a different title of 'disability consultant' as
>this implies a join process of collaboration.
>
Hi Beth and Leane
I don't like the word 'specialist'. It is a label which for me actually
signifies a ghettoised status rather than an élite status, as I've been
called a 'Deaf Specialist' and there is a tendency even in the disability
movement to only consult me when it's something to do with deafness and
this, for me, is disabling. Actually what I do is much broader in focus.
I'm also not sure about the word 'consultant', however. Over here, many
disabled people set themselves up as 'consultants' without ever having had
anything to do with the disability movement or disability politics and in
some cases have actively opposed the aims of the disability movement. These
'consultants' are beloved of those who espouse new right discourses of
neoliberalism.
Also I don't think consultancy necessary implies real participation. It can
be tokenism, as expressed in the view that 'we will consult disabled
people, of course (but only because we have to. It doesn't mean we have to
listen to what they say', and/or we can limit oursleves to the
'hand-picked' few who we know will agree with us).' It's one of those
words, anyway, where the meaning is terribly ambiguous, and it can be
associated with delusions of grandeur. I prefer to list my qualifications
and the kind of activities I am/have been involved in, leaving
interpretation of this open.
Best wishes
Mairian
*********
"To understand what I am doing, you need a third eye"
*********
Mairian Corker
Senior Research Fellow
University of Central Lancashire
c/o 111 Balfour Road
Highbury
London N5 2HE
U.K.
Minicom/TTY +44 [0]171 359 8085
Fax +44 [0]870 0553967
Typetalk (voice) +44 [0]800 515152 (and ask for minicom/TTY number)
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