Good deal Biraj. I see what you're arguing, however I think we're debating the difference between apples and oranges. You do make good points - as always. Jimmie
-----Original Message----- From: Incandescent [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 7:45 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [OTlist] what is OT? Hi Jimmie: My understanding of "functional" has been that they are those activities which an individual needs to do, is required to or expected to do - thus functional. And since you used the terms "occupational" and "functional" interchangeably (at least that is how I interpreted it) my contention was that they are not interchangeable terms. Because the idea of occupational activities has a *meaning* aspect to it. For example if wanting to learn the tango is important to someone, or perhaps writing (as in a published writer), or inline skating, or something similar, these would be considered "occupational" and not "functional" activities. However, they may serve a function or a purpose. My point was simply that occupational activities mean more than "functional" activities to the individual, but strictly speaking they are more than "functional" activities, because the function here is almost incidental, even if not quite. However, "functional" activities cannot be "occupational" activities, while the reverse may be true. Thus the two terms cannot be used interchangeably. To amplify what I mean, if we were to view "occupational" activities as distinct from "functional" activities I would consider interpreting the two in terms of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. In this hierarchy of needs, "occupational" activities would fall more within the Esteem or even the Self-Actualization needs in certain cases. Whereas "functional" activities would fall more within the lower needs i.e. "Security" or "Safety" needs. Hope this helps to explain what I had meant initially. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Self-Actualization Esteem Love and Belongingness Safety Security or Physiological Best, Biraj Jimmie Arcenaux wrote: > Biraj, > > Are you implying that "activities which an individual needs to do or is > expected to do" are not functional? I agree that occupation is a broader > concept, but I believe what is occupational is also functional. Occupation > to me is the work of living as a human being. A functional activity by its > definition has meaning and relevance to the individual's life. > > Thanks Brian for the reference to the roots of OT. I could not agree with > you more. > > Jimmie > > -----Original Message----- > From: Incandescent [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2003 9:04 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [OTlist] what is OT? > > Hi Jimmie: > > Not to put too fine a point on this but my sense is that when viewed from > the > perspective of activities "Occupational" is a distinct and larger concept > than > "functional". The former also includes within it what is meaningful to the > individual, whereas "functional" as the word implies refers to those aspects > of > activities which an individual needs to do or is expected to do - thus > functional. > > What do others think? > > Biraj > > Jimmie Arcenaux wrote: > > > I believe also that the use of occupational or "functional" (I hate using > > that term because it is coined well too often by OTs) activities as the > > primary treatment modality is a hallmark of occupational therapy. It is > > what the professions history is based upon. > > Jimmie > > *****************************��********************************** > > To remove yourself from the OTnow mail list, send a message to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > In the message's *body*, put the following text: > > unsubscribe OTlist > > - > > List messages are archived at: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > *****************************��*********************************** > > *****************************��********************************** > > To remove yourself from the OTnow mail list, send a message to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > In the message's *body*, put the following text: > > unsubscribe OTlist > > - > > List messages are archived at: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > *****************************��*********************************** *****************************��********************************** To remove yourself from the OTnow mail list, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the message's *body*, put the following text: unsubscribe OTlist - List messages are archived at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] *****************************��*********************************** *****************************��********************************** To remove yourself from the OTnow mail list, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the message's *body*, put the following text: unsubscribe OTlist - List messages are archived at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] *****************************��***********************************
