I suppose its the dominant discourse that we just have to live with, adapt to or carry on in spite of.
Cerebral Palsy Research (CPRes) aims at nothing less than "Shaping the future of research into cerebral palsy".
Hear what CPRes have to say of themselves:
Cerebral Palsy Research (CPRes) is a multidisciplinary community, university and clinical research group which brings together people with cerebral palsy, their family and carers, clinicians, healthcare professionals and researchers. We work in partnership to undertake research which:
- increases understanding of the causes and consequences of cerebral palsy
- leads to new, or the enhancement of existing, supportive therapies for people with the condition
- is directly relevant, focused and addresses the needs of the cerebral palsy community
It would be churlish not to welcome this new initiative, particularly one with a philosophy that "our research should be ‘with’ people with cerebral palsy rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them; to ensure that it is relevant and addresses their needs." But I cannot help noticing that in this "multidisciplinary" research group no mention is made of educators; that "consequences" does not seem to include education; that the aim is new or enhanced "therapies" not pedagogies - and that there is anything that can realistically be called "the cerebral palsy community".
So I wish them good luck. But I find the limited and out-of-date CP world view expressed in some of the statements under "Working in partnership with the community in the co-creation of knowledge" wearyingly disappointing.
"If you are interested in joining, please contact Dave Lewis ([email protected])"