OT Blog

Starting out with anatomy and evidence based practice, I was craving to learn about OT, the whole reason I am here. This course was a great intro to the field and got me excited about the future! I like how we learned about the OTPF-3 as we were learning about ways to use ourselves and our unique characteristics and creativity to work with clients. Instead of just going exactly by some instruction sheet of how to treat a client, we went through the OTPF and then blogged about our personal experiences and views that make us unique as professionals.  Before this course, when someone would ask me what occupational therapy was, I would just throw out a jumble of words that didn't even make sense, I'm sure they walked away more confused than they were in the first place! Just last week I was with my parents at a store and the worker asked what I was in school for, and had no idea what OT was. I was able to give my elevator speech, that I learned in this class and give a clear expla...

I thought this case was interesting because Rowdy was an olympic swimmer when he was diagnosed with GBS. He was in peak physical shape when he got the disease and then made a very fast recovery. We have discussed how someone's physical state before injury/disease is important in recovery. I think that also being a person that constantly trained helped him and his commitment to rehab. Having the motivation and mental stamina helped him in recovery and he was able to qualify for the olympics again 4 year after diagnosis. In his case, I am sure that being able use a pool as a means and an end for his intervention was very helpful. Although a person's interest may not be as clear as using pool therapy to regain enough strength to swim in the olympics, this just shows how important it is for a therapist to look at the individual and their interests when planning and implementing intervention.

Before Sarah's presentation the only knowledge I had of Stephen Hawking was from the TV show The Big Band Theory, so today was obviously a more educational experience. I had no idea that he was diagnosed at such a young age of 21, being healthy and not having any risk factors. I also thought it was really interesting how he controls all of his devices (speech, typing, chair, alarm clock, etc.), using the infrared sensor that is controlled by movement of a muscle in his cheek. Sarah mentioned an OT intervention to maintain the activity of the muscle in his cheek, which I'm sure is one of his biggest goals so that he can continue to communicate and engage in his daily occupations. Lastly, I really liked that Sarah stressed the importance of OT intervention with the caregiver. Because Stephen uses so many high-tech assistive technology devices and needs assistance to take care of them, educating his caregiver(s) on maintenance of the devices is critical in ensuring that he can en...

No matter where you work as an OT, you are going to encounter someone from a different culture, or that has different beliefs than you.   While it would be nice to say that every OT should understand the exact differences in every culture that they will encounter, it’s just not possible. So as students, I think that gaining experience in the field will help us learn ways to understand people different than us and how to treat them according to their beliefs, even if they aren’t ours or if we don’t understand them. Although I am not proud to admit it, I stereotype people, for example, expecting that people from the north act different and maybe even ‘rude’ as opposed to those from the south with ‘southern hospitality’, even though I know many people from the north that are very nice, and lots of people from the south that aren’t. In order to further develop cultural competency and to be a better student/OT, I think it is important to self-reflect and realize any bi...

As mentioned in a previous blog, I am interested in the emerging area of health prevention and promotion. Looking at the AOTA’s emerging fields, I am also very interested in the population of adults with autism. In undergrad, I had the chance to do an internship at a place called Sunshine Industries, which is a place that employs individuals with disabilities when they graduate high school and finds meaningful employment in the community for them. Some work at Sunshine, but others have jobs in the community, like at Kroger. In recreation therapy, we would go as a group to the mall or to downtown for dinner. Many of the individuals at sunshine had autism. Before this internship, I did not think I had an interest in working with adults, now I am definitely interested in the field. For adults with autism, integration into the community is essential. We spent much of our time just helping them understand what things are and are not appropriate to do in public, and helping them find ways t...

Last Wednesday night, I went to a practice for the Rolling Grizzlies basketball team. I chose to write my neuro note on this to reflect on what a great experience it was. I had never seen an actual professional wheelchair basketball team, and had no idea of how much skill it takes to even dribble the ball and shoot, nonetheless fall out of a wheelchair and climb back in within seconds. At the end of the practice the team let us try their wheelchairs and play some. I was quickly humbled when I air-balled my first shot and then during a backwards race down the court ran over the coach and a player. I was able to talk to the players about questions I had, for instance, of how they get back into their chairs so quickly when they fall. The player thanked me for asking and explained that he loves talking about it because he worked so hard to be able to do it. He then gave me some helpful tips on how to teach people to get back into their wheelchair.  A huge takeaway from this experien...