Podcast: Embed
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This is definitely a passionate plea from me to you guys. Firstly, I love memes. I think so many of them are amazingly clever and incredibly funny.
Therapy-related memes, however, are a thorn in my side. Firstly, 99.99% of them are not remotely funny. I’m really sorry to break it to you guys but therapeutic relationships are rarely funny and trying to make light of them comes across as soooo forced and often offensive. And this is where today’s episode comes from.
I’ve spoken many times about the impact public portrayal of OT has on our profession. In my opinion, I can see how condoning some of these memes could be doing us damage.
The meme above is the inspiration for this episode. It was a short video of a person falling out of a wheelchair after going off a step. The comment, as can be seen by my comment, is the main part that really got to me.
I encourage you to keep an open mind, have a listen to hear my opinion and come up with your own opinion on the matter.
Keep occupied
Brock
brock.cook@me.com
@brockcookOT
I think the problem for this specific meme is that people forget that the internet is world-wide, and not everyone uses the same terms in the same way. In the USA, “para” is short for “paraprofessional,” a specific job in schools. Therefore, as an American who had worked in the school system, I read the meme as referring to an OT and their assistant playing around with a wheelchair- not a client and certainly not referring to a disability. I didn’t understand your concern until I listened to the episode. While I assume the maker of this specific meme meant no harm, it makes sense that as a profession we need to be aware of how what we post on the internet may be interpreted in other parts of the world as well as outside of our practice setting.