HP becomes an OT

Prior to starting OT school, I completed many hours of observation and one session specifically stood out to me. I was volunteering at a pediatric clinic and had the privilege of sitting in on a session with a young boy who must have been in about 2nd grade. At the beginning of the session, I went with the occupational therapist to the waiting room to meet with the boy and his father. When the OT asked the father how their week had been and whether there was anything new coming up, the father explained that they had been struggling with some emotional outbreaks at home. For example, when the boy was not allowed to play on his iPad he would yell "I hate you" and kick and scream. The boy's father explained that this hurt his feelings and he would really like it if we could practice different ways to handle this situation. I remember being so impressed by the way the OT responded to the father and so seamlessly worked his concern into the session which she already had planne...

In an episode of the Glass Half Full podcast, Amy Seymore discusses her practice of nature-based therapy . Amy uses this therapy in her pediatric private practice with children of all diagnoses. She explains that many of the therapeutic techniques that are used in occupational therapy clinics are an "echo" of activities that children would be doing if they were just playing outdoors. For example, swinging from a trapeze vs. swinging from a tree or jumping across stepping stones vs. actual stones in a river. However, practicing these exercises indoors excludes certain elements such as wind, bright sunlight, and other noises. Amy gives an example of working with a child who has sensory processing challenges. In this case, she would use nature-based interventions such as playing in the mud, hanging upside from a tree, or playing in water which provides extra feedback against their skin. These interventions can be graded, for example, by changing the consistency of a medium suc...

OTPF stands for Occupational Therapy Practice Framework. It is an official document, released by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), that summarizes and defines the constructs that guide occupational therapy. The OTPF (3rd edition) is beneficial to our profession because it establishes a common use of language, scope of practice, and OT process. This allows occupational therapy practitioners to be "on the same page" and to be effective in supporting clients in their active engagement of meaningful occupations. 

Today in my Occupational Therapy Foundations course we gave presentations for each decade from 1920s to 2010s. In these presentations we discussed trends in work, leisure, play, politics, technology, and societal perspectives. We also covered major events that impacted the way of life and activities in which people participated. For example, I discussed environmentalism and feminism in the 1970s. While it may be tricky to see the connection between these topics and occupational therapy, it is important to remember that occupational therapists work with clients on activities and occupations that are meaningful and important to them. Therefore, environmentalism and feminism were major themes of that decade that directly affected occupations throughout the country. Throughout the era presentations, I was especially struck by the difference of being a student. The 1940s group discussed how young adults were going to college straight out of high school to avoid the draft for the war. I tho...

The Aquatic Therapeutic Exercise Certification (ATRIC) is a specialty certification that I am especially interested in. I am interested in this because I actually have some experience in this area, however, I was unaware that there is a specialty certification available for OTs. The occupational therapist who I shadowed in high school knew that I was on swim team and asked whether I would be willing to help her in the pool with one of her clients. Her client was an 18 year-old girl with cerebral palsy who was extremely stiff because she spent all her time in her wheelchair or on her mattress. The OT had set a goal of increasing the client's range of motion, specifically in her shoulders, and knew that the pool would be a great place to work on this goal. However, there were guidelines and laws that prevented the OT from getting in the pool with her so I went along with the OT and she coached me on how to effectively and safely stretch the client in the pool. From then on, I went t...

On December 14 of 2016, Fox 5 News reported a story titled “Georgia two-year old already a comeback kid.” The story is about a two-year old boy whose shoulder got caught in the birth canal during delivery. The boy, Kason, suffered an injury to his brachial plexus which left his entire left arm paralyzed. This article and video specifically caught my attention because I recently learned about this possible brachial plexus injury at birth in my anatomy course. The condition is called Erb’s Palsy, and it causes arm weakness or loss of motion. In Kason’s case, he experienced complete paralysis from his shoulder to his fingers. Kason underwent two surgeries and by the age of two Kason became a determined little boy who meets with an occupational therapist every week. This news report definitely reflects the profession of occupational therapy accurately. The discussion of Kason’s therapeutic journey is factual and holds the work that OT practitioners do in a very positive light...