Competence and incompetence are constructs that emerge in the social milieu of everyday life. Individuals are continually making and revising judgments about each other's abilities as they interact. The flexible, situated view of competence conveyed by the research of the authors in this volume is a departure from the way that competence is usually thought about in the fields of communication disabilities and education. In the social constructivist view, competence is not a fixed mass, residing within an individual, or a fixed judgment, defined externally. Rather, it is variable, sensitive to...

Competence and incompetence are constructs that emerge in the social milieu of everyday life. Individuals are continually making and revising judgments about each other's abilities as they interact. The flexible, situated view of competence conveyed by the research of the authors in this volume is a departure from the way that competence is usually thought about in the fields of communication disabilities and education. In the social constructivist view, competence is not a fixed mass, residing within an individual, or a fixed judgment, defined externally. Rather, it is variable, sensitive to...

Diagnosis isn't what it seems. It is usually treated as a label, arrived at by professionals, to explain a problem and to point to treatment. This view of diagnosis fits "the medical model." Authors in this book view diagnosis as a process, not a label. Diagnosis involves a negotiation of power relationships as well as of professional accountability. The chapters reveal how today's professionals and non-professionals use diagnosis to explain medical problems and also to explore how a diagnosis affects the identities of those diagnosed. In addition, some chapters show how diagnostic reasoning...

Diagnosis isn't what it seems. It is usually treated as a label, arrived at by professionals, to explain a problem and to point to treatment. This view of diagnosis fits "the medical model." Authors in this book view diagnosis as a process, not a label. Diagnosis involves a negotiation of power relationships as well as of professional accountability. The chapters reveal how today's professionals and non-professionals use diagnosis to explain medical problems and also to explore how a diagnosis affects the identities of those diagnosed. In addition, some chapters show how diagnostic reasoning...