While reading for my macro class, I had, during a brief zone-out, an inspiration: I realized what I would really like to do with my life. I would LOVE to be able to counsel parents who have just discovered that their child has a disability (either in utero or post-birth), talking with them about how to make their life productive, talking them out of feeling despair and possibly wanting to abort, and also talking to parents who have known their child's diagnosis for a while and still focus on making their child "normal". I HATE HATE HATE "normalization", because it inherently implies that these children are somehow lesser and must be fixed. This is just not true, and if I could yell at every agency that propagates this belief (including one i've worked for) believe me, I would.
Another source of frustration is the term "consumer"; as in, parents coming to discuss their child with me would be a consumer of my services. Well, this just makes social work sound like Burger King. I had to go to a 20-hour workshop last fall focusing on the switch to consumer, and I maintain that it is completely ridiculous. I realize it's supposed to promote empowerment, blah blah, but it just makes me cringe.
"Let's normalize this consumer". HOW HORRIBLE IS THAT?
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