For this blog post I decided to write about a brief description
of the correct way to write about and report on people with disabilities. The
Americans with Disabilities Act defines disability as a physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. This
changes nothing when comparing those with disabilities to those without. They
are still human beings, they have strengths and weaknesses just as I do, they
succeed and fail just as I do, and they have dreams and nightmares just like I
do. With just these few examples, how can one say that someone with a
disability is any different from anyone else? Its that simple, you cant,
because they aren’t. Here are a few tips for writing about someone with a disability:
1. Put the person first not his or her disability, 2. Emphasize abilities not
limitations, 3. Do not focus on the disability unless it is essential, 4. Do
not portray successful people with disabilities as heroic overachievers or long
suffering saints, 5. Do not equate disability with illness, and lastly 6.
Always RESPECT the person!
For my second post I will be talking about health as well as mentioning a few theories promoting health. Health can be defined in many different ways, one being “the complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being and not just the absence of disease or infirmity.” The promotion of health is the use of discipline specific techniques to assist people in achieving their health related goals. Occupational therapy directed health promotion is the client centered use of occupations, adaptations to context, or alteration of context to maximize individuals’, families’, communities’, and groups’ pursuit of health and quality of life. Health promotion is a process of maximizing health through structured interventions. Before an appropriate theory can be selected for a health promotion initiative, a clear understanding of the health and occupation needs and desires of those being served is required. One of the first and most widely used models in health promotion is...
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