ABSTRACT
According to Denzin (1994), ‘researchers work outward from their own biographies to the worlds of experience that surround them’ (p. 512). In my own case, my professional identity as a social worker and my experience as the parent of a child with disabilities influenced my ‘work outward’. Social work is a profession whose primary constituencies are powerless and devalued people. It is also a profession whose code-of-ethics calls upon its members to work towards a more just social order. This professional orientation seemed largely unconnected with my (conventional) research practice. This estrangement was echoed in my personal life where I found myself devoting numerous hours advocating for my son’s basic rights. Traditional research had little to offer me. Its fact-value dichotomy, non-reflexivity and so-called objectivity rendered it superfluous to the ‘real life’ challenges facing people with disabilities.
