Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to articulate arguments against the establishment of a
therapeutic recreation association in Australasia. The authors believe that this is an
important debate as the outcomes will place people with disabilities in very different
locations within leisure discourse. It is argued that the establishment of a therapeutic
recreation association will reinforce medicalised conceptions of disability that disempower
individual freedom for professional control. Such a course of action would fail
to recognise the contemporary influences of social approaches to disability that seek to
provide an enabling environment to empower people with disabilities to forge their own
leisure identities. Further, the history and development of therapeutic recreation has
cultural contexts that require careful examination from an Australasian perspective. The
arguments presented are informed by contemporary ideas within leisure theory, disability
studies, human rights approaches to marginalised groups and the broader citizenship literature.
