Attending to the Manifesto: The importance of idiographic data collection in pediatric occupational therapy

The occupational therapy profession is unique because it is positioned as a stepping point to help people escape the despair of a liminal disability state and move toward the function that people wish to achieve, for themselves or for their children.I have written previously on the occupation of writing and the notion of interactivity through written text.  I have come to understand over time that parents are Manifesto-writers, often taking pen to page to attempt to make sense of their parenting occupations.  I frequently evaluate children and in that context am handed Manifestos of parents who have so much to say and want to be sure that their message is adequately conveyed during what they perceive as an all-critical evaluation process.The evaluation is a moment in time that is pulled outside of the stream of other normal interactions and it is often elevated in contextual importance.  The parent may have expectations that the evaluator is expert and many hopes are precariously stacked on the possibility that the evaluator will be able to help the parent with the meaning making process, or even to possibly find some pathway that will make sense for their child's development.Of course the parent doesn't view any of it in such a detached phenomenological way, but nonetheless this is what often happens.It is my hope that occupational therapy evaluators will spend more time analyzing and considering the Manifestos of those they evaluate.  Sadly, many occupat...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - Category: Occupational Health Tags: OT practice parenting Source Type: blogs