he said she said

It's been fascinating to really look into issues that before I would assume are clean cut with simple answers.  In class we've been talking a lot about how cultural perceptions can completely change a group of people's or a person's ideas on a given topic.  The topics can be seemingly small, like how to act socially appropriately, as well as extremely big, like whether or not a genocide occurred.  In class I gave the example of the Tibetan exile or "genocide" as it's been referred to in the literature.  It's easy to find an argument on either extreme side of the debate as to whether or not the Tibetans are oppressed by the Chinese or not.  Even now as I sit here, I actually am not quite sure about what has occurred in Tibet and China and India, and I'm left with the desire to know more.

This learning has extended to learning in my graduate research courses.  We are currently studying how to determine whether or not an intervention or teaching method is an evidence based practice.  A huge problem in defining an evidence based practice lies in the fact that researchers and professionals cannot even agree on what method of research yields true experimental results.  It was so confusing to me to read one article that swears by both group experimental design and single subject research design.  Another author claimed that clearly group experimental design is the only method that can truly account for all variables and therefore declare a functional relation.  After class tonight, it was pretty apparent that my professor believes strongly in single subject research.... Still, I don't know what the truth is.  Again, this is another example of completely different perceptions causing conflict in an issue that should be clear cut, or at least one would think so...

I've been left thinking how every time I've seen the term "evidence based practice," that really I have no idea how valid that is.  There are so many factors that come into play when determining whether or not there is a true functional relation, and as researchers are even now debating what this factors are, it's hard to believe anything is actually evidence based. 

In my current research, I know my study won't yield a functional relation, so I'm not extremely hung up on this topic.  However, it does relate to my research in that results can be so subjective if a study is not peer-reviewed and published.  I hope to account for as many variables as I can so as to have a stronger argument in answer to my research question.  It's going to be difficult with the extremely unique population I've chosen to work with...

Tibet: A Nation in Exile

Dhussa, R. C. (2009). Tibet: A nation in exile. American Geographical Society's Focus on Geography, 52(2), 1-6.

• “…center of the displaced group is the Himalayan hill station of Dharamsala, India, where spiritual Tibet has arisen.  In the Tibet within China, people are jailed for nationalist utterings, forbidden to display photos of the Dalai Lama, and face extinction of their culture” (p. 1).

•  “Tibet suffered disastrously from the extremism of Chinese politics in the 1960s” (p. 3).

•  “Against a backdrop of increasingly intensive controls over religious and cultural activities, accelerated state-led economic development, and large-scale compulsory resettlement of farmers and nomads…” (p. 3).

•  “…assimilate the region.”

• “…most of the fruits of economic growth and modernization have gone to Han Chinese immigrants” (p. 4).

•  “Most Chinese people know little about Tibet's own, and very different, interpretation of its history and regard Tibetans as having been granted special subsidies and benefits from the government to lift their economy. For many, protests from Tibetans appear to be ingratitude…” (p. 4).

• “..250,000 people have left Tibet since 1951.”

blank paper

On Friday I faced the challenge of making sense of all the ideas that have been floating around in, on, around, or near my brain.  I was confronted with a blank white sheet of 11x18 piece of paper and the objective to make a written or pictorial product explaining my plans, concerns, and overall ambitions for my master's thesis.  It was frightful!  Thankfully I was in good company of people who seemed likewise intimidated, or at least hesitant to write or not write certain things on the white sheet of paper.

I felt a great sense of security to see the similarity in concerns and ideas amongst my peers--I also felt comfort to know these stable people would be nearby whilst I work on my project.  It was a great experience.  In the end it was shocking to see the colors and somewhat cohesive way in which I displayed my concerns, ideas, etc. on this intimidating piece of paper.  I left class with an added measure of excitement, security, and motivation to press on.  Sometimes the subjectivity of my thesis frightens me to death, so it was calming to see it could get closer to something objective and real, and most of all: doable and helpful.

I'm obliged to be with the group of people I am now amongst, and equally or more obliged to press on with the research.  Seeing my plan mapped out provides a place to start making floating ideas grounded ideas.

More than anything, I was pleased to see my focus is still on helping people--it's my true passion and love.

I have a great fear of becoming a "scholar" in every sense of the word!

Back to work.

Hindu Perceptions of Disability

Waldman, H. B., Perlman, S.P., Chaudhry, R.A. (2010). Hindu perceptions of disability. The exceptional parent….I need to figure out how to cite this!

•   But the reality is that classical texts of Hinduism often refer to disabilities and deformities, "... as something fearful, usually a punishment for misdeeds. Credence is given to the equation of a twisted personality with a twisted body." (5) These historical epics contain many characters with disabilities that are familiar to Hindu adults, "... (and have) the significance of religious myth and continue to shape attitudes." (5)

•   Common misconceptions among the general population of Hindus could most definitely arise from reading the doctrine the way this article describes it.  How common is it to deem a disability a result of sin among the general public?  Obviously scholars look beyond this interpretation, but what about the average Buddhist?  How about at the Karuna Home...?

Utilising Existing Resources for Inclusive Education of Children with Disabilities in India

Narayan, J., Rao, L. G. (2006). Utilising existing resources for inclusive education of children with disabilities in India. Asia Pacific Disability Rehabilitation Journal, 17(1) 87-93.

• The 86^th Amendment of the Constitution of India ensures right to education to every child (Government of India The Constitution (Eight-Sixth Amendment) Act, 2002). (p. 87).
• Inclusion of children with special needs is essentially the responsibility of the regular education system (p. 88).
• The drop-out rate is high due to lack of support services and trained teachers to education children with disabilities.
• …there is a need for barrier free environment and suitable transport to reach school.  Above all, sensitization of administrators, adaptations and curriculum, evaluation procedures and teacher preparation to enhance their competence in teaching children with special needs.
• One major focus of capacity building is development of competence in persons involved in achieving an objective (p. 89).

Health Perception and Health Behaviors of Elder Tibetans Living in India and Switzerland

Wangmo, T. (2011). Health perception and health behaviors of elder Tibetans living in India and Switzerland. Cross Cultural Gerontol. 26: 331-348.

·          Many believed that engaging in religious activities was just as important for their health as practicing healthy behaviors. Gyaltsen, a man aged 92, stressed, “Religion and culture have positive influence on health because prayers prevent illness. Also, prayer brings prosperity. Thus, for good health, timely consultations with doctors and prayer are [both] necessary” (p. 341).

  

      In a study on health perceptions of Tibetan elders, all 30 participants reported a “sense of happiness” acquired from living in a Tibetan community while exiled in India (Wangmo, 2011, p. 339).  They feel support from their continued ability to practice their cultural traditions privately and publically.  They also reported a sense of community in being able to turn to their neighbors for support and help, which in turn positively affects the elders’ emotional health.  Many participants in the study perceived religion plays just as a great a role in health as does “practicing healthy behaviors” (Wangmo, 2011, p. 341).  Religion helps these individuals understand their current position in life and the position they will have in their life to come.  It helps them have an understanding of karma, which adds meaning to a seemingly bad situation in their life.  Faithfully practicing their religion is thought to improve many areas of the Tibetans lives’: mental, physical, spiritual, etc.  

Nondualistic Paradigms in Disability Studies and Buddhism

Lynne Bejoian: A Female Tibetan Buddhist Professor at Columbia University with a Disability

Lynne Bejoian: A Female Tibetan Buddhist Professor at Columbia University with a Disability

Bejoian, L.M. (2006).  Nondualistic paradigms in disability studies and Buddhism: Creating bridges for theoretical practice.  Disability Studies Quarterly, 26(3). Retrieved from http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/723/900

•   Were they, in fact, in total agreement with Charlton's assessment? Perhaps so. Conceivably the incongruence of their belief about disability and their Buddhist belief was more about Buddhism as they knew it as opposed to what Buddhism is prescribed in the scriptures to be (p. 2).

•   If disability is to be fully and consistently included in all life experiences, spirituality must be reconsidered and reclaimed within the discourse. Critiques of Buddhism, or any other belief system for that matter, are limited when they do not fully represent and delve into the main tenets of those systems and bring them into current social human contexts.

•    She still heard discriminative comments and saw prejudice—she’s not saying Tibetan Buddhists are civil activists.

•    The Mahayana tradition is focused on achieving enlightened status for the benefit of all beings and freeing all others of suffering and leading them to an enlightened state. 

•   Many have elaborated upon the idea of karma and base on it their critique of Buddhism's perspective that disability is a result of past life bad deeds, evil, and/or immorality, and thus based on retribution (Charlton, 1998; Miles, 2000). The reliance on this interpretation of karma is misguided and limited. 

•                     Tibetan Buddhist ideas on people with disabilities are not limited to a superficial understanding of the "karma theory."  People misinterpret what the doctrine says.