Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
'DSM-V is taking away our identity': The reaction of the online community to the proposed changes in the diagnosis of Asperger's disorder
David C Giles David.Giles{at}winchester.ac.uk University of Winchester, UKThis article considers the fate of Asperger’s disorder in the light of proposals for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) to collapse Asperger’s disorder along with other pervasive developmental disorders into a general spectrum of autism. It is argued that a powerful lay and scientific culture has evolved around the concept of Asperger’s disorder, which has found a particularly compelling voice over the last decade in the online Asperger community, with websites such as Wrong Planet recruiting tens of thousands of members. In order to assess the impact of these proposed changes on the online Asperger community, 19 threads on the topic of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) are analysed according to the arguments that community members put forward in favour of, or in opposition to, the proposals. Many members embrace the notion of the spectrum and have already coined a new identity – ‘spectrumite’ – to adapt to the diagnostic shift. Others, however, are suspicious of the motives behind the absorption of Asperger’s disorder, and potential threats to the provision of services as well as the strong ‘aspie’ identity that reflects the large literature and the online public sphere around Asperger’s disorder. To what extent this culture poses a challenge to the authority of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is uncertain at present. © 2013 SAGE Publications. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC
Sidestepping questions of legitimacy: How community representatives manoeuvre to effect change in a health service
Sally Nathan s.nathan{at}unsw.edu.au School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW AustraliaNiamh Stephenson School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW AustraliaJeffrey Braithwaite Australian Institute of Health Innovation, UNSW AustraliaEmpirical studies of community participation in health services commonly tie effectiveness to the perceived legitimacy of community representatives among health staff. This article examines the underlying assumption that legitimacy is the major pathway to influence for community representatives. It takes a different vantage point from previous research in its examination of data (primarily through 34 in-depth interviews, observation and recording of 26 meetings and other interactions documented in field notes) from a 3-year study of community representatives’ action in a large health region in Australia. The analysis primarily deploys Michel de Certeau’s ideas of Strategy and Tactic to understand the action and effects of the generally ‘weaker players’ in the spaces and places dominated by powerful institutions. Through this lens, we can see the points where community representatives are active participants following their own agenda, tactically capitalising on cracks in the armour of the health service to seize opportunities that present themselves in time to effect change. Being able to see community representatives as active producers of change, not simply passengers following the path of the health service, challenges how we view the success of community participation in health. © 2013 SAGE Publications. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
The Learning Network Blog: Student Opinion | Would You Want a Bike Share Program for Your Community?
Questions about issues in the news for students 13 and older.New York City is in the second week of its bike share program, joining other major cities like Boston, London and Mexico City.
Would you want a bike share program for your community?
In the article “Out for a First Spin: City’s Bike Share Program Begins,” Matt Flegenheimer writes about last week’s kickoff for bike sharing in New York.
By midafternoon, the passing flickers of blue were already ubiquitous — negotiating light taxi traffic in the West Village, hurtling through the protected lanes of Midtown, drifting toward the Brooklyn waterfront.
For the first time, under cooperatively clear skies, New Yorkers sat astride the city’s first new wide-scale public transportation in more than 75 years: a fleet of 6,000 bicycles, part of a system known as Citi Bike, scattered across more than 300 stations in Manhattan below 59th Street and parts of Brooklyn.
There were kinks in the system’s early hours. A bike was swiped on Sunday as crews worked at the last minute to fill the stations. A mail delivery snag left as many as 200 members without access to the system. Some tourists dipped credit cards in vain for minutes, unaware that the program was initially open only to annual subscribers.
But Monday’s riders were, by definition, an eager and forgiving cross section: founding members who registered for a yearly pass for $95, allowing them to ride between stations for as long as 45 minutes with no added charge.
Students: Tell us …
Would you want a bike share program for your community? Why?How safe is biking in your neighborhood?Do you think more people would bike to work or the store if bikes were somehow shared?Can you imagine sharing more things with strangers besides bikes, like college textbooks, a prom dress or even a car?Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. Please use only your first name. For privacy policy reasons, we will not publish student comments that include a last name.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
ZipCars Provide LMU Community with Transportation Alternative
No car? No problem, as more and more LMU students are finding out.
From the cost of gas to the growing desire for sustainability, more students have discovered that bringing their own car to campus isn’t the best choice for them. That’s where ZipCar, a car-sharing service available at LMU, comes into play.
“College students do not necessarily need access to a car all of the time,” said Carolyn French, assistant director of Campus Recreation at LMU and coordinator of the ZipCar program. “ZipCar allows them to have one when they need it.”
The service is simple. Eligible students (at least 18 years old with a clean driving record for at least a year) can go online to sign up and reserve one of the eight available cars on campus for any day of the week, any time of day. ZipCar charges hourly or daily rates.
The program provides various benefits. Users don’t have to pay for LMU campus parking, or for gas, insurance or maintenance, since ZipCar covers those costs. There’s also no search for somewhere to park, because there are reserved spaces near Rosecrans Hall.
“The number one benefit of the ZipCar program is its flexibility, in that the students have the freedom to go wherever they want, whenever they want for a pretty minimal fee,” French said. “Students can leave campus at their leisure without the large expense and hassle that comes from bringing their own car.”
Zach Soliz, a sophomore business major from Dallas, takes advantage of the ZipCar service instead of bringing a car from home. As a full-time student who lives on campus, he figured he didn’t need a car that often. But as an aspiring actor, Soliz uses ZipCar when he needs to drive to and from auditions around Los Angeles.
“ZipCar was perfect for me,” Soliz said. “I was able to reserve a ZipCar with no problems, whether it was for an audition or to explore the city.”
The program isn’t just for students, though. Anyone in the area who is a ZipCar member can use the cars at LMU just like any other available ZipCar.
For more information on the ZipCar program at LMU, click here.