Spoon Theory Of Disability
The spoon theory or spoon metaphor is a disability metaphor a neologism used to explain the reduced amount of mental and physical energy available for activities of living and productive tasks that may result from disability or chronic illness.
Spoon theory of disability. Christine s object lesson now known as the spoon theory took off and spread like wildfire through the disabled community. You have to plan ahead since you probably can t cook and clean up on the same day. With chronic pain or any invisible illness you have to learn to manage your spoons. Spoon theory has been a popular metaphor for more than a decade among numerous disability communities.
The term spoonie is sometimes used to describe people living with chronic illness. Spoon theory has since become quite popular and is used to describe many forms of energy limiting chronic illness including mental illness me cfs chronic fatigue and chronic pain. Here s how it works. The spoon theory a personal story by christine miserandino is popular among many people dealing with chronic illness.
Spoon theory definition a metaphor to explain how a person with a disability or chronic disease must manage energy expenditures calculate effort and conserve resources to accomplish activities of daily living. Each activity requires a given number of spoons which will only be replaced as the person recharges through rest. See there s a thing called spoon theory and it s wildly common in chronic illness disability and autism circles. Click here to download the spoon theory in pdf format.
But if you ve never heard of spoon theory before it can be super confusing. His eyes were wide and his voice soft with sympathy as he explained that everyone was born with a set number. Why are all of these people randomly losing their silverware. Using the spoon theory to describe how your own invisible disability limits daily activities.
Spoons are a visual representation used as a unit of measure in order to quantify how much energy a person has throughout a given day. Earlier this year i met a man who asked if i d heard of the spoon theory of disability. The theory uses spoons as a visual way to explain how much energy someone has throughout the day. The spoon theory written by christine miserandino please take the time to read christine miserandino s personal story and analogy of what it is like to live with sickness or disability.
The premise is that people start the day with spoons and as they perform their tasks of daily living spoons get taken away. It describes perfectly this idea of limited energy using spoons as a.