One of my goals for 2024 is to start breaking down more scientific evidence into plain English for families, educators, and other professionals. As an experienced occupational therapist with a PhD, an Adjunct Fellow at Western Sydney University, published researcher and a current investigator on a number of research projects, I'm privileged to have access to both the evidence and the skills to interpret it. In particular, I want to amplify research which is co-designed (and ideally co-authored) by people with lived experience of disability, and which shares their experiences and perspectives of living in a world not designed for them.
There is a lot we can learn from listening to the voices of those we aim to support. For too long health professionals have viewed themselves as the experts, telling people what to do, how to do it and labelling them "non-compliant" if they didn't! Thankfully the narrative is (slowly) starting to shift, with the social model of disability and neurodiversity paradigm contributing to many positive changes. Neurodivergent people and people with disability have been speaking up, and finally people are starting to listen. More research is underway that takes an affirming lens and listens to the voices of the true experts - those with lived experience. Clinical practice is slowly catching up, although not quickly enough.
"More research is underway that takes an affirming lens and listens to the voices of the true experts - those with lived experience"
I look forward to breaking down some of the current research for you in a way that makes sense of the evidence!
Dr Nicole Sharp, BAppSc(Hons)OT, PhD
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