The 2 December 2012 NY Times Magazine article ‘Autism Inc.: How Thorkil Sonne discovered that his son’s disability could be turned into a competitive advantage‘ could make for an interesting read to analyze from a Social Role Valorization (SRV) perspective. For example, the article focuses on the role domain of employment (Wolfensberger, 1998, 30). It mentions the idea of ‘valuable roles’ in terms of employment and uses some role language (e.g., consultant, specialist). The article raises the importance of SRV-relevant concepts such as perception, expectations and interpersonal identification. It talks about the financial benefits of the worker role. And so on.
Other ideas to explore:
• What about image enhancement as a strategy of building and supporting valued social roles?
• What role communicators are mentioned in the article?
• Are any negative stereotypes reinforced?
• What programmatic factors are discussed in the article? What non-programmatic factors are mentioned or discussed?
And so on.
Marc Tumeinski