REFERENCES

C o u fa l, K. 1 9 9 3 . C o lla b o ra tiv e c o n su lta tio n  

fo r s p e e c h -la n g u a g e  th e r a p ists. T o p ic s  in 

L a n g u a g e D iso r d e rs, 14(1): 1-14

F o s le r  R H . 1 9 9 8 . L o o k in g  fo r  th e right 

co m m u n ic a tio n  d e v ic e . C o m m u n ica tio n  O ut­

lo o k , 18(2 /3 ): 6 -8 .

H uer M B , L lo y d  LL . 1 9 9 0 . A A C  u se r s’ per­

sp e c tiv e s  o n  a u g m e n ta tiv e  and altern ative 

c o m m u n ic a tio n . A u g m e n ta tiv e  and A lte r ­

n ative co m m u n ic a tio n , 6 : 2 4 2 -2 4 9 .

K is s ic k  L N . 1984. C o m m u n ica tio n  d e v ic e s 

and an en rich ed  life . T h e e x c e p tio n a l parent, 

June: 9 -1 4 .

M c C a ll F, M arkova I, M urphy j, M o o d ie  E, 

C o llin s S. 1 9 9 7 . P er sp e c tiv e s o n  A A C  sy ste m s 

b y the users and b y  their c o m m u n ica tio n  

partners. E uropean Journal o f  D iso r d e rs o f  

C o m m u n ica tio n , 32: 2 3 5 -2 5 6 .

R en u k  J. 1 9 9 8 . S earch in g. C o m m u n ica tio n  

O u tlo o k , 1 8 (2 /3 ): 9 -1 0 .

S im u z in g ili T, A m o su n  S A  . 1 9 9 8 . W hat c li­

n ical c o m p e te n c ie s d o w e  e x p e c t from  p h y sio ­

therapy stu d en ts at the U n iv e r sity  o f  the 

W estern C ap e? S A  Journal o f  P hysiotherapy, 

5 4 (4 ): 1 0 -1 4 .

S o to  G , B e lfio r e  PJ, S c h lo ss e r  R , H a y n e s C. 

(1 9 9 3 ). Teaching sp ecific requests. Education 

and training in m en ta l retardation, 2 8 :1 6 9 -1 7 8 .

Verburg G . 1 9 9 5 . W o u ld n ’t it b e  n ic e  i f . . . .  

C o m m u n ic a tin g  T ogether, 1 2 (2 ):2 1 -2 2 .

c:

L e t t e r  t o  t h e  E d it o r

A concern has arisen am ongst a num ­ber o f physiotherapists recently - 
amongst them Dr. Wayne D iesel, Jacqui 
M cCord-U ys and myself, regarding our 
professional status. This was bom  out at 
All A frica Games in Johannesburg in 
September, 1999, where Jacqui and I were 
the organising physiotherapists for the 
5000 foreign athletes .

We are concerned that our field of 
expertise as physiotherapists is being 
eroded from all sides. The chiropractors 
are perform ing com petent and effective 
m anipulations and are also doing m yo­
fascial releases, trigger point therapy, 
P.N.F., exercise/rehabilitation and even 
acupuncture. The sports m asseur is giv­
ing the sports people what they want ... 
hands on massage. They are also becom ­
ing m ore and more “know ledgeable “ 
about sports injuries and expanding their 
advice and treatment.

The biokineticians are well into the

field o f exercise and rehabilitation. They 
are energetically attending all the courses 
on pelvic stabilization, sports injuries 
etc. They too, have greatly expanded 
their field.

At the All A frica G am es a multi disci­
plinary m edical team attended to the 
“5,000 foreign athletes at the medical 
clinic in the A thletes Village. The core 
group consisted o f 3 sports physicians 
and two physiotherapists. There was also 
an orthopaedic surgeon, general prac- 
tioners, pharm acists and a pathology 
laboratory. The rest of the medical team 
com prised of 63 physiotherapists , 140 
physiotherapy students, chiropractors - 
150 and sports m asseurs - 100 The bio­
kineticians could not attend.

At the A frica Games we were sad to 
see a trend developing whereby the 
chiropractors and the sports masseurs 
were referring the athletes to physiothe­
rapy for M ACHINES !! The interaction

betw een our disciplines was excellent 
and we have no problem  with these pro­
fessions. In that environm ent at the 
Games we could address this false per­
ception. The worry is that this is happen­
ing OUT TH ER E !

The only solution is that we, as p h y ­
siotherapists, M U ST continue to raise 
our standards and provide the patients 
w ith consistently excellent treatm ent. 
We could not agree m ore with the letter 
from Brun W inter in the Septem ber ed i­
tion that “ to be successful you d o n ’t 
have to do extraordinary things, ju st do 
ordinary things extraordinarily well.”

We have a wonderful profession, but 
we cannot sit back and presum e that all 
will be well. We need to be involved 
with continuing education and research.

Let us strive to give our patients our 
absolute best at all times.

HELEN MILLSON (M.C.S.P.)

This letter is published in its o rig in a l Form. The SASP a n d  the Editor does not assum e a n y  responsibility fo r statements m a d e , 
n o r a re  the view s expressed in co rrespo ndence published necessarily those o f the SASP o r the Editor.

28 SA Jo u r n a l  o f  Ph y s io t h e r a p y  2000 V o l  56 No 1

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