Cookie Gimp" says…learn more about Disability Activists

“Cookie Gimp's” Contribution to my Blog:

The best way for occupational therapy students to learn about disability from a rights perspective (I *think* this is what Karen means by frame of reference but I am not sure on all the OT jargon) is by attending a disability rights conference and actually meeting activists struggling to change the world, physically and attitudinally. These are numerous in the US and Canada but the two best are Society for Disability Studies in NYC in mid-June (info at www.disstudies.org) and the Canadian Disability Studies Association meeting in Vancouver (not far from Seattle; info at www.cdsa-acei.ca). Short of that, read No Pity: People with Disabilities Forging a Civil Rights Movement by Joseph Shapiro or Handbook of Disability Studies by Albrecht, Seelman and Bury. Rehab has historically been part of the problem. OT students can be part of the solution if you take the social model of disablement seriously (focusing primarily on strucutral barriers not impairment). Karen already has the right psychological mindset; instead of rating pet injuries by numerical scales, that same instinct can be re-tooled to notice steps/barriers wherever you go.