Resource Seeking as Occupation: A Critical and Empirical Exploration.

Occupational therapists and occupational scientists are committed to generating and using knowledge about occupation, but Western middle-class social norms regarding particular ways of doing have limited explorations of survival occupations. This article provides empirical evidence of the ways in which resource seeking constitutes an occupational response to situations of uncertain survival. Resource seeking includes a range of activities outside formal employment that aim to meet basic needs. On the basis of findings from 2 ethnographic studies, we critique the presumption of survival in guiding occupational therapy documents and the accompanying failure to recognize occupations that seem at odds with self-sufficiency. We argue that failing to name resource seeking in occupational therapy documents risks alignment with social, political, and economic trends that foster occupational injustices. If occupational therapists truly aim to meet society\u27s occupational needs, they must ensure that professional documents and discourses reflect the experiences of all people in society

Sensory experiences of children with autism spectrum disorder: In their own words

First-person perspectives of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are rarely included in research, yet their voices may help more clearly illuminate their needs. This study involved phenomenological interviews with children with ASD (n=12, ages 4-13) used to gain insights about their sensory experiences. This article addresses two study aims: determining the feasibility of interviewing children with ASD and exploring how they share information about their sensory experiences during the qualitative interview process. With the described methods, children as young as four and across a broad range of autism severity scores successfully participated in the interviews. The manner with which children shared information about their sensory experiences included themes of normalizing, storytelling, and describing responses. The interviews also revealed the importance of context and the multisensory nature of children's experiences. These findings contribute strategies for understanding the sensory experiences of children with ASD with implications for practice and future research

Sensory subtypes in children with autism spectrum disorder: latent profile transition analysis using a national survey of sensory features

Sensory features are highly prevalent and heterogeneous among children with ASD. There is a need to identify homogenous groups of children with ASD based on sensory features (i.e., sensory subtypes) to inform research and treatment

Transactional Perspectives on Occupation

VIII, 268 p.online resource

The Transactional Perspective\u27s Community Orientation

Intent: More than ten years after introducing the transactional perspective on occupation (Dickie, Cutchin & Humphry, 2006), we take the opportunity to critically examine and suggest enhancements to the perspective. Our intent is to lay the groundwork for what could be a new phase in the transactional perspective’s development by arguing for the value of its community-level orientation toward processes of occupation, inquiry, and practice. Argument: After providing a background that presents why we think there is a need for the community orientation of the transactional perspective to be foregrounded, we provide a synthesis of John Dewey’s social pragmatism. We discuss his core concepts of situation, inquiry, social reconstruction, social inquiry, and community, and we put that thinking in a methodological frame to suggest its utility in research and practice. Although others within the disciplines of occupational science and occupational therapy, particularly outside of the U.S., have studied community occupation and reported community projects and models, Dewey’s framework for social inquiry may be useful in assessing and adapting existing models for community building, advocacy, and change. Importance to occupational science: Occupational scientists have increasingly recognized the value of transactional perspectives on occupation (Cutchin & Dickie, 2013). Any theoretical orientation, however, should be an organic system of ideas that serve the purpose of an academic community. As occupational science evolves and grows, there is considerable value in the critical assessment and additional development of this perspective, especially as it relates to a field becoming more engaged in community-level and community-engaged research (Aldrich & Marterella, 2014). Conclusion: Our view is that the transactional perspective has value for occupational science and that this argument about the development of the perspective’s community orientation will enhance to value and provide important bases for additional community-oriented research in the discipline. Moreover, this dimension of the perspective can usefully support the trend towards more community practice in occupational therapy. Keywords: social reconstruction, social inquiry, pragmatism Discussion questions: What aspects of this argument need further explanation? How does Dewey’s concept of social inquiry translate to your research or not? Does the argument and its key concepts assist our attempt to develop the perspective in important directions? How does these concepts and perspective widen the lens of practitioners

Sensory experiences of children with autism spectrum disorder: In their own words

First-person perspectives of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are rarely included in research, yet their voices may help more clearly illuminate their needs. This study involved phenomenological interviews with children with ASD (n=12, ages 4-13) used to gain insights about their sensory experiences. This article addresses two study aims: determining the feasibility of interviewing children with ASD and exploring how they share information about their sensory experiences during the qualitative interview process. With the described methods, children as young as four and across a broad range of autism severity scores successfully participated in the interviews. The manner with which children shared information about their sensory experiences included themes of normalizing, storytelling, and describing responses. The interviews also revealed the importance of context and the multisensory nature of children's experiences. These findings contribute strategies for understanding the sensory experiences of children with ASD with implications for practice and future research