Producing boundary-breaking texts on disability issues: the personal politics of collaboration

Abstract

Purpose: This article explores the reflection on a process of inter-collaborative team work to produce a photographic book on caregivers’ experiences of parenting their disabled children. The team of authors consisted of members with diverse backgrounds, including media studies, social science and photography. The purpose of this article was to explore and gain a deeper understanding of the process of boundary breaking, one which is important if we are to develop new knowledges and new ways of thinking about disability. Method: In-depth interviews were conducted with all contributors to the book. Results: Themes emerging from the interviews include the existence of different worlds, crossing boundaries, questions about expertise, conflicting hopes and expectations, and the ethics of anonymity. Conclusion: An account of the anxieties, the frustrations and rewarding aspects of the collaboration is provided. We conclude that “us” and “them” categorization permeates our thinking. It characterizes some of the most simplistic thinking in the world of disability – able-bodied vs. disabled. In reality, there are no such categories, we all reside along a highly differentiated continuum of changing states of impairment and health. If we open ourselves up to this reality, we can meet one another and draw on one another’s knowledge and experience.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Collaboration between able-bodied researchers and disabled people and their families holds the potential for producing new perspectives on disability and rehabilitation.

• These collaborations may be emotionally challenging and they hold possibilities for a range of conflicts.

• Dealing with these challenges conflicts openly and honestly may lead to a deeper understanding of the issues at stake in disability and rehabilitation.

• We need more examples of reflection on innovative collaborative processes.

Keywords::

• Boundary breaking
• inter-disciplinary collaboration
• meaning-making

Declaration of Interest: Funding support from the Royal Netherlands Embassy and the National Research Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. We should also like to thank Prof Linda Richter for her visionary support and Dr Hester van der Walt for her very sensitive interviewing. The comments of reviewers of the first version of this article were very helpful. All views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not those of any other person, organization, or funding body.

Notes

1 The book Zip zip my brain harts (McDougall et al, 2006) can be purchased from the HSRC and is also available for free download in pdf format at http://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/home.php?cat=5.