Hello I am very pleased to see some of the vocabulary from Enabling Occupation II 'shaping' and 'enabling' appearing in the discussion. 'Contrived' is the other side of that coin. The way we express ourselves has a huge effect on the way we are able to think. Hans Jonsson has done some really helpful work with this. (Journal of Occupational Science Vol 15(1) April 2008. Page 3) Ron you seem to be viewing this whole issue through an adult physdis lens and backing yourself (and us) into a very reductionist corner. I can see your frustration with the UE focus and I agree with it but you are throwing out most of paeds practice as well as lots of the cognitive disability work along with hand therapy with your distortion of the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance. This model is now CMOP-E - and Engagement. The work of Townsend and Polatajko opens up great possibilities for both the growth and definition of the profession.
My take on 'expertise' which I have been holding back thinking that there is a lot more to write than this, like my process of coming to this conclusion. I'll trust the list to weigh in with examples and arguments. My formulation of the expertise of the profession of Occupational Therapy (not necessarily the expertise of individual therapists) is; - to become consciously aware of mismatches between basic abilities and task demands (cognitive, psychological, social and physical), which interfere with the performance of needed, wanted, expected or potential occupations; - to analyze the mismatches; and - to design and offer interventions to mediate the mismatches. I acknowledge the thinking from this list, the Canadian practice document (Enabling Occupation II)especially the Taxonomic Code of Occupational Performance (TCOP), and the work I have been doing with Sarah Austin to articulate the theory of the Cognitive Disabilities Model in seeing that our expertise is a particular application of the concept of occupation. Joan Riches B.Sc.O.T., OT(C) Specialist in Cognitive Disability Riches Consulting High River, Alberta, Canada 403 652 7928 -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
