Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely our own and not necessarily those of our employer or any other occupational therapist.

Friday 19 June 2009

Neuro-Occupation and Non-linear dynamics - just a thought


Just a short post to share an enlightened moment I had recently. I have been reading and searching for articles and research on issues of cognitive assessment for some potential research and development within virtual environments (more of that later when we have something to tell!) and I came across a site discussing non-linear neuro-dynamics.
Liked the sound of the term - had no idea what it meant so started to explore further and eventually came to Lazzarini's BJOT article on neuro-occupation and the non-linear dynamics of Intention, Meaning and Perception (2004) BJOT 67(8) 342-352.
Fascinating and much of what I read really made sense to me as an occupational therapist. To me the article gives some very clear definition and phrases as to how occupation is seen as a "process" and thus " the dynamic vehicle for the expression of intention through self-organised actions" and how, through engagement and interaction with occupation, "sensory consequences" are experienced and that is when meaning is assigned.
It looks at the term Intention - that most understand this as a conscious goal-directed term in relation to activity but then makes the reader think by suggesting that most activities (daily routines, cooking etc) are "second nature" and that the greatest fulfilment comes from total immersion so that "self-awareness is scattered to the winds" - bit like Wilcock's Doing, Being and Becoming and the concept of "flow".

The article explores many other issues and concepts - but have a read if you can - I can recommend it.

2 comments:

Christopher J. Alterio said...

All good stuff; I am glad that you found it and enjoyed it. There is a rich history of exploration into non-linear dynamics and GST in our profession - but it just hasn't seemed to embed itself in our theory base (fully) yet.

I have blogged about these things a few times - you may be interested in these entries:
http://abctherapeutics.blogspot.com/2006/05/autism-reality-and-adaptability.html

http://abctherapeutics.blogspot.com/2005/11/on-string-theory-and-muddy-paws.html

There are others, scattered around the blog.

Cheers,

Chris

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