Healing dramas and clinical plots (1998) is an ethnographic account by anthropologist, Cheryl Mattingly, of occupational therapists’ work in rehabilitation settings during the mid-1980s. She uses diverse sources to support her ideas from literary and narrative theory, phenomenology and hermeneutics, and anthropological perspectives on ritual and narrative. In doing so, she presents the rehabilitation process, and its clinical interactions, as a form of drama, adhering to a socially constructed narrative plot. She proposes that, if narrative (as has been suggested) reflects the lived experience, it does so through narrative drama rather than narrative cohesion. As an undergraduate, I came … [Read more...] about Blaise Doran – Healing dramas and clinical plots – 30DoS #19
Embodiment, pain and disability – the latest edition of Qualitative Inquiry
Hot on the heels of yesterday's @physiotalk Tweet-chat about philosophy and physiotherapy, comes the latest edition of Qualitative Inquiry. For those of you who don't know it, QI has a strong focus on innovative and experimental qualitative material (follow this link to visit the journal's website). This month's edition focuses on the life and work of Laurel Richardson - a major force in areas like autoethnography (where the researcher's experience becomes the data) and creative writing as a research process. The papers are all about embodiment, pain and disability and have real application to physiotherapy practice. Ronald J. Berger, Carla Corroto and Julie White (2014). … [Read more...] about Embodiment, pain and disability – the latest edition of Qualitative Inquiry
Blank H (2012) The surprisingly short history of heterosexuality. Beacon Press
I did some research into the writings of Hanne Blank, the author of 'Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Sexuality,' see this brief interview with Thomas Rogers at Salon. I realised that there are some surprising and interesting links between Hanne's work and the history of physiotherapy. Firstly, Blank reminds us that heterosexuality was a social construct invented to normalise sexuality at a time when late-Victorian anxieties imposed some now taken-for-granted, but no less draconian notions of 'normal' sexuality. This was exactly the time when physiotherapy as a profession was being formalised. Normative values around (hetero)sexuality were pivotal to the founders of … [Read more...] about Blank H (2012) The surprisingly short history of heterosexuality. Beacon Press
76% of New Zealanders are not disabled!
Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) released its 2013 Disability Survey yesterday - the first report of its kind since 2001 - and it says some interesting things about disability in New Zealand. The study's main findings indicate that: 24% of New Zealanders self identified as disabled - which equates to 1,062,000 individual people The 3% increase in self-reported disability since 2001 can be partly explained by our ageing population 59% of people aged 65 or over were disabled 11% of children were identified as disabled by their parents Māori and Pacific people were over-represented in the data For adults, physical limitations - note, not 'disability' - were the most common type of … [Read more...] about 76% of New Zealanders are not disabled!