With and Without Words: Exploring Occupation in Relation to Young Children with Autism

The interconnected meanings of occupation: The call, being‐with, possibilities

“…In so doing communities develop, and outcomes and products emerge, as does a sense of worth and usefulness. Spitzer (2003), however, challenged the assumption that meaning making is a conscious reasoning and self awareness process, highlighting that the meaning of occupation is embodied and comes from the doing. This assertion is consistent with Law' s (2002) suggestion that the meaning of occupation is influenced by the balance between the challenge the occupation presents and the performer' s skills, a sense of choice and control, and whether the environment facilitates easy attention to the occupation.…”

“…The link between time and meaning is similarly highlighted in recognising that occupation has meaning when it is goal focused (Hasselkus, 1989), since goals reflect hopes or expectations for the future. Equally, the meaning of occupation is connected to past experiences of engaging in it, as illustrated in Spitzer' s (2003) study of the occupations of children with autism and Hocking et al' s (2002) study of the meaning of food related occupations to older women.…”

“…However it should be noted that the findings in this study showed that the meaning of occupation is related to both possibilities that open up and those that close down, thereby indicating that the transformational potential of occupation might not always be positive. More recently Spitzer (2003) highlighted the temporal nature of the meaning of occupation, in that it is connected to past experiences, just as the theme of possibilities identifies that what a person has done in the past influences what he or she does now and will do in the future, which in turn influences the meaning of occupation.…”

Doing, Being and Becoming: The Sociality of Children with Autism in Activities with Therapy Dogs and Other People

“…Th e concept of 'worlding' has been discussed, among others, by Haraway (2008) and Stengers (2005), who posited that 'the world' is a possible unknown constructed together by multiple, diverse entities. Th ese entities enter into each other's presence and are 'response-able' to and for each other, i.e., are engaged 'in relationships of response' (Haraway 2008: 82) and are willing to take ontological risks by responding to each other in an act of 'response-ability' (Stengers 2005).…”

“…Th ese entities enter into each other's presence and are 'response-able' to and for each other, i.e., are engaged 'in relationships of response' (Haraway 2008: 82) and are willing to take ontological risks by responding to each other in an act of 'response-ability' (Stengers 2005). Th e response is an act that draws ontological entities into fi gures, 'material-semiotics nodes or knots in which diverse bodies and meanings co-shape each other' (Haraway 2008: 5).…”