How to Summarize a Disability in Narrative Form

Medicine has recently recognized the value of narrative storytelling, as a way to understand, diagnose, and treat people with illness and disability. Theoretical work in medicine, and the social sciences, has also recognized the role of narratives in medicine and related fields. The French philosopher and social theorist Michel Foucault -- whose early works were on the history of medicine and the history of psychology -- revealed the intimate relationship between language and medicine. The way patients talk about their experience and symptoms, and the way they are spoken about by the professional medical world, play a significant role in the diagnosis and treatment of illness and disability.

Instructions

• 1

  Recognize the different functions that narratives of disability perform. On the one hand, a narrative of disability is regarded as a qualitative diagnostic tool, that supplements more traditional quantitative diagnostic procedures. The patient is able to share important information with this doctor through his narrative, issues that may be otherwise neglected.

• 2

  Listen to how the disability is described. A narrative presents a first person account of the disability. It provides an interior glimpse of the disability, from the point of view of the patient. The first stage of summarizing the narrative, is to determine what the patient is saying.

• 3

  Describe the context of the narrative. All narratives are placed in a specific context, and this contributes to the content of the story. Understanding the context in which the narrative unfolds provides insights into the meaning of the disability. In other words, what it means for someone to live with a particular disability.

  What is the meaning of the narrative? What is the relationship between the person's disability and the social and cultural environment? How does the cultural context contribute to the way the person interprets their disability?

• 4

  Conclude with prescriptive and evaluative solutions. A story, or narrative typically imparts a lesson, advice, or some type of insight. This is also true for narratives of disability. Narratives of disability provide researchers in various fields such as, medicine, social work and sociology, with group histories, case studies, focus groups and observational notes. The goal is to improve our knowledge and treatments of disability and, in doing so, improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.