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Objective: Research has shown that comparatively few adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS) participate in the competitive work force. The purpose of this study was to gain in-depth knowledge about contextual factors, which contribute to successful labor market participation in some adults with AS. Participants: This study was conducted by indepth-interviewing six adults with AS working in the competitive job market in Switzerland. Methods: A developmental and hermeneutic narrative approach was used for data collection and analysis. Two in-depth narrative interviews were conducted with each participant. A narrative analysis according to the theories of Paul Ricoeur was performed. Results: Results showed that participants received pre-vocational requisites during their childhood through parents and friends that provided a feeling of security in social contexts. For participants, a supportive school setting resulted in academic achievements. The narratives reveal participants' capacities for understanding and adapting to social norms. Participants' understanding of their own needs was essential to the successful labor market participation. However, disclosure is rare and social stigma is still present. Conclusions: This study showed that successful labor participation of adults with AS can be enhanced through adequate social support already in the early stages of an individual's lifetime.
Occupational science has been discussed in terms of its relation to occupational therapy, its philosophical and theoretical foundations, and its international and interdisciplinary character over the past years. The disciplinary identity of occupational science in non-English speaking countries has not yet been debated in the literature. The aim of this article is to discuss occupational science as an emergent discipline in Austria, a German-speaking country. The discussion is divided into two parts. In the first part we engage in critical reflexivity to explicate the current development of occupational science in Austria by reviewing the disciplinary and historical context of occupational science and the related profession of occupational therapy, the educational and institutional influences as well as the influence of language. In the second part, we illustrate that occupational science is an emerging discipline in Austria by drawing on an ongoing research project: the Gender, Occupational Balance, and Immunology Study. By making explicit how occupational science has emerged, from our insider perspective, we aim to contribute to the further development of the disciplinary identity of occupational science nationally and internationally.
Introduction:
Occupational therapists' intention of enabling women with rheumatoid arthritis to participate in everyday life is fraught with challenges in everyday practice.
Method:
Inspired by institutional ethnography, this paper aims to make explicit how the work of occupational therapists in an outpatient rheumatology hospital setting is governed within invisible, ruling relations. An analytical description of the first author's clinical experience was a standpoint from which to explicate how occupational therapy is coordinated to the ruling relations of the Austrian health care system.
Findings:
Occupational therapy practice and research are ruled within a positivist, body-focused, medical apparatus, which renders largely invisible occupational therapists' knowledge of enabling people to engage in occupations that are meaningful to them.
Conclusion:
Occupational therapists have professional power that can be asserted by strategically using occupational therapy specific knowledge and language in textually mediated practices, from assessments and case files to media images, to give greater visibility and influence to the profession's work of enabling occupation.
Objectives: The purpose of this article is to share the details, outcomes and deliverables from an international workshop on work transitions in London, Ontario, Canada. Participants: Researchers, graduate students, and community group members met to identity ways to advance the knowledge base of strategies to enhance work participation for those in the most disadvantaged groups within society.
Methods: A participatory approach was used in this workshop with presentations by researchers and graduate students. This approach included dialogue and discussion with community members. In addition, small group dialogue and debate, world cafe discussions, written summaries of group discussion and reflection boards were used to bring new ideas to the discussion and to build upon what we know.
Findings: Two research imperatives and six research recommendations were identified to advance global dialogue on work transitions and to advance the knowledge base. Occupational justice can be used to support future research directions in the study of work transitions.
Conclusions: Moving forward requires a commitment of community of researchers, clinicians and stakeholders to address work disparities and implement solutions to promote participation in work.