Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!yale!bunker!hcap!hnews!712!631!Greg.See-Kee
From: Greg.See-Kee@f631.n712.z3.fidonet.org (Greg See-Kee)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Quality of counsellors
Message-ID: <12581@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 28 Jun 90 17:02:52 GMT
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Index Number: 8996

 AP> gOOD COUNSELORS, LIKE GOOD TEACHERS, ARE MADE IN hEAVEN.

My counselling agency that I helped administer (Helping Hand
Mission, affiliated with one of the Anglican churches) would
probably like to agree with you.

Each training class, we designed an Interview day.  From about 40
applicants on paper, we invited 30 to the "Selection Day".

We stage it so that only half will be there at the end of the
day.  After our "selection", we still might lose a few who proved
unsuited to counselling.

The training topics & methods that we use are probably off-topic
to this conference.

 AP> i MERELY MEAN TO SAY THAT THE SKILL OF COUNSELING IS A GIFT.

I see it as a stage in Personal Maturation.  Some mature earlier
than others.

 AP> COMBINATION OF DESIRE TO COMMUNICATE

Counselling is basically one-way: Client -to-dogooder.
Teaching, which I've also done, is mainly in the other direction.

 AP> WITH A GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF THE sYSTEM AND ITS WORKINGS.

The bookworms finishing some Unversity Social-Work course are
very good on theoretical knowledge.

 AP> mAYBE THAT'S WHERE MANY COUNSELORS FALL
 AP> BY THE WAYSIDE BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN THEIR 
 AP> AREA'S RESOURCES WELL ENOUGH.

So if they are dealing with a disabled person, say diabetes,
they might not recognize that retardation, "laziness",
hyperactivity, headaches, etc are really part of badly-controlled
diabetes.

Part of the ignorance and low-quality being given to disabled
people, is because the disabled people are TOO INARTICULATE.

There are lots of words being thrown about on this conference,
but the words are carefuully and deliberately avoiding any
information that will ultimately be useful to professional
do-gooders.

Unless Disabled People eventually learn to COMMUNICATE in words,
they will continue to be the victims of ignorance &
misunderstanding.

The victimization of disabled people, like the victimization of
colored people and all women (irrespective of race or
disability), is not deliberate nor rational.

The perpetrators of the victimization would probably like to stop
crippling the people around them.

But how?

So that's why we are here, trying to describe to the Persecutors,
just how they are really victimizing us, and therefore hurting
themselves - in the long run.

--
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