Comprehensive Notes on Disability Research and Critical Social Theory

The speaker shares their academic journey and research interests in disability studies and health care, emphasizing a nonlinear path.

Initial Encounters with Disability:
- Work as a healthcare professional revealed a biomedical perspective on disability, noted as rigid.
- Rehabilitation field is actively rethinking disability perceptions for providers.
Research Role:
- Worked at the Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research, engaging in conservative research using a medical oncologist perspective.
- Aimed to broaden the understanding of disability within research teams populated by both medical and social science professionals.
Critical Approach:
- Incorporating critical disability studies and contemporary literature into anthropology, which lacks depth in this area.

High School to University:
- Described as a nonlinear journey; completed high school and immediately entered a triple major undergraduate program.
- Pursued a master's degree followed by a doctorate, focusing on biomedicine and métathesis of medical anthropology.
- His work investigates the experiences of people interacting with healthcare systems.
Applied Anthropology:
- Shifted to applied anthropology post-PhD, engaging in advocacy and practical research.
Innovation Consulting:
- Entered innovation consulting, working with various organizations, including the Canadian government and health institutions.
- Conducted anthropological research focused on the user experiences and needs related to healthcare services.

Emphasized an interdisciplinary approach, stepping outside traditional academic silos.
Gathered insights from diverse stakeholders, including patients and healthcare providers, regarding their experiences and challenges in the medical system.
Noted a desire to make a more impactful contribution to healthcare, leading to an interest in becoming a healthcare practitioner.

Pursued a Doctor of Chiropractic degree, encountering research opportunities through connections made while studying.
Emphasized a return to academic research to address clinical issues observed during practice.

The speaker illustrates that their career path is better described as a spiral rather than a straight line, highlighting the dynamic and nonlinear nature of career development.

Definition and Context:
- Explains the varied meanings of innovation consulting, citing some firms' unethical practices.
- Particularly highlights a Canadian firm influenced by IDEO and Frog, which introduced the concept of design thinking.
Design Thinking:
- Defined as co-creative research that involves stakeholders in problem identification and solution design.
- Stressed the importance of human-centered design over purely financial motives in business consulting.
- The methodology of design thinking fosters curiosity and collaboration among users to address issues effectively.

Discussed the ethical implications of consulting practices, promoting commitment to client needs over profit.

Critical Social Theory's Impact:
- Students asked about how critical social theory shapes disability understanding, especially in clinical evaluations.
Historical Context:
- Identified that activists in the 1970s and 80s challenged the biomedical model, emphasizing that lived experiences and societal structures play critical roles in defining disability.
- Introduced the Social Model of Disability, which views the environment and societal attitudes as central to understanding disability, addressing the disempowerment caused by social structures.

Critical Social Theory offers insights into how society can better accommodate disability, moving beyond purely medical perspectives to include environmental and societal factors in the understanding and support of individuals with disabilities.