Social participation and communication as occupations

2024/09/30

Previously, I wrote about Keiko’s story which she told when she

talked to me about her daughter.

Keiko has taken care of her daughter Myu, who has had severe

disabilities, since she was born 18 years ago.

But after all these years, it’s getting harder for Keiko to take

care Myu because she has a back disk herniation and other

joint pains.

She had always helped Myu move around at home.

Keiko called her own physical problems “disasters” for her

family and realized she can’t continue this life style anymore.

She thinks that it is time for Myu to leave her parents and

start an adult life in society.

Keiko is trying to find a group home for people that provides

not only care services but also medical care.

At a place like that, she plans to support Myu in starting an

adult life.   

Today, I will share the function and meaning of social

participation and communication as occupations for Keiko

and Myu and offer a broad perspective of occupation.

Social participation and communication as

occupations

From Myu’s story, we find the function of social participation: beginning

adult social participation promotes the child’s separating more from the

parents and transitioning to live life within broader society. 

For Keiko, Myu’s adult social participation means her daughter’s leaving

her and Keiko’s loss of the daily life with her daughter she had built for

many years.

Meanwhile, however, she is relieved from the physical problems aggravated

by helping Myu.

Keiko also believes that she is responsible for support Myu to start more

adult social participation.

Myu says that starting adult life is making friends with people and living life

with them.

The child’s starting an adult life makes it possible for both the child and the

parent to search for how to live their individual life and to promote their own

health and wellbeing.

Now I will share the other occupation, communication.

Myu likes interacting with people and making friends with them.

That’s her strong skill. Communication has promoted Myu’s social participation

at home, schools and sheltered activity centers since she was born.

For Myu, communication has been and will continue to be one of her most

meaningful occupations. 

However, Keiko has concerns about Myu’s communication skills.

Keiko is worried that Myu wouldn’t be accepted well in society because

her behavior sometimes doesn’t fit the social situations.

Keiko plans to support Myu to look for place for adult life and to learn more

acceptable social interactions with non-family members.

For Myu, communication has been a positive and meaningful occupation across

her life and will support her to connect with people and to promote her health

and wellbeing.

Social participation can possibly promote children not only to transfer their

occupational place from home to society, but to step up a developmental stage

from childhood to adulthood in their individual life.   

What event helped you realize that you were not a child any longer, but rather,

an adult?

I remember that I was excited and worried when I left my home town to start

a student life in a big city. It was an important time for social participation and communication occupations to change.