Out of this World OT

I think this simulation went pretty well overall. I tried to make the conversation flow as naturally as I could, despite my initial nervousness, and I covered all the topics we needed to discuss. If I could redo it I would try to be more concise and clear with my explanations of SPD and the results of the sensory profile. When I watched the recording, I realized my talking speed was not as fast as it initially felt when I was in there, but I still stumbled and/or rambled during my explanations. Some ways you can communicate caring to the client, or the parent in this situation, is by body language and checking for their understanding. For instance, positioning yourself beside the client, making eye contact, and nodding, all provide nonverbal cues that you are listening and are here for them. Asking open-ended questions such as "what questions do you have?" instead of "do you have any questions?" shows the client that you genuinely care about their questions/concer

I chose this documentary because it had really good reviews and I wanted an inside look of what it is like to survive a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), or "stroke." This documentary was started by Lotje, a 34-year old woman who experienced a stroke while home alone, as a way to document her recovery journey. Her friends described her as a very social, articulate person who loved to read and write before her stroke. However, post-stroke, Lotje had a lot of speech, reading, and writing difficulties. The documentary shows all of the frustrations and challenges Lotje encounters as she tries to come to terms with who she is now that she cannot do the activities she used to love. I thought this movie was fascinating and very philosophical. They use visual effects throughout the movie to give the audience a sense of what Lotje is seeing. For instance, she describes the vision on her right side like a "heightened sense of reality" with all the colors and sounds intensif

I really enjoyed the creative challenge this project provided. Adaptive technology and out of the box thinking are two of my favorite parts of occupational therapy, which initially made me feel like there was a lot of pressure to produce a great idea. I had a whole list of ideas at first, but ultimately came to the conclusion that perhaps the best idea was the simplest one. By weighting the Parmesan cheese container with rice I already had in my pantry, I was able to create a fun, cheap activity that directly tied to the client's interests and occupational performance goals. My family frequently found ways to re-purpose household items as I was growing up. The resourcefulness they taught me back then was extremely helpful for this assignment. It was exciting to see the pieces fall together and reinforced that a lot can be accomplished with a little creativity, OT knowledge, and duct tape.  Therapeutic activities do not have to be expensive. There is no need to buy new or e

I chose this video because many of the residents I encountered while working at a retirement community/SNF were diagnosed with Alzheimer's/Dementia and they taught me to always expect the unexpected. This video shows how Alzheimer's affects behavior besides just the memory loss that is usually associated with it. The cameraman's father wanders from room to room, performing various odd tasks and never really seems content with any of them. For instance, he remakes the already made bed several times, taking pillows off and on, and straightening sheets. He also walks over to the litter box and picks up a clump with his hands rather than a scoop and then it takes the son several tries to get his father to wash and rinse both hands. At the end, the son attempts to get his dad to come relax and watch TV with him but the father just keeps making his rounds. I observed a lot of similar behaviors in the Alzheimer's/Dementia wing of the retirement community I worked and shado

I chose this TED Talk because I wanted to hear more testimonies about Huntington's disease and was struck by how young this particular speaker was. In this video, Kristen Powers tells her story of learning to cope with her mother's diagnosis of Huntington's as well as the 50% chance she or her siblings would contract it. Since she was only 9 years old at the time of her mother's diagnosis, she had 9 years to wait until she could legally take the test that would reveal if she was gene-positive or negative for HD. During this period of "Not Knowing," she decided to process her emotions through journaling and decided she was just going to try to live life to the fullest rather than allowing anxiety to steal her joy. She ends the talk by saying she recently turned 18 and would finally find out if she was gene-positive or negative in a few months but plans to keep advocating for Huntington's regardless of the results. Since this video was published in 2012, I

I chose this Ted Talk because I actually met Janne Kouri recently when volunteering at his Ride for Paralysis event. He and his team were riding bicycles from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. to raise funds and awareness of the need for better rehabilitation centers for those living with spinal cord injury.  In his Ted Talk, he tells more about his personal story and his realization of the hole in our healthcare system regarding patients with spinal cord injury. His doctors told him he had no hope for recovery and that he should just "get used to playing board games the rest of his life." That line was absolutely chilling and infuriating for me to hear. Our job as healthcare professionals is not to take away all hope nor to give false hope. While we can present evidence to our client, every case is different so there is truly no way to know the outcome for that individual. Luckily, Kouri did not listen to this doctor and searched for rehabilitation facilities that could pro

The hierarchy of mobility skills in order from least to most confidence is: bed mobility, mat transfer, wheelchair transfer, bed transfer, functional ambulation for ADLs, toilet and tub transfer, car transfer, functional ambulation for community mobility, and the top is community mobility and driving. After seeing the hierarchy pyramid for the first time, it did make sense to me why it is in that particular order. The bottom levels have a larger base of support which helps the client stay safe while they build their confidence, strength, and balance. As they go up the skill levels, progressively smaller bases of support are introduced along with other challenges such as slick surfaces in the tub/bathroom. These added challenges require more balance and mobility skills. Driving is at the top of the pyramid because it requires a lot of both physical and cognitive skill to safely maneuver a car.  For example, if a client is recovering from back surgery, bed mobility is the very first

Assistive devices are carefully fit to each individual client to ensure as much efficiency and safety as possible as the client uses it. For instance, if their device is not adjusted to the right height for them, it could effect a client's gait pattern and lead to an increased risk of falling. To properly size a cane to a client, the handle should be about level with their greater trochanter. The client's elbow should be slightly flexed when holding the cane. If using a quadcane, it is important to ensure the wider legs are turned to face the outside so they are clear from the client's path when walking. For axillary crutches, the arm pad should be about 5 cm below the axilla so as not to impinge on the nerves and vessels of that region. The handgrips should be about level with their greater trochanter. For Lofstrand (forearm) crutches, the arm cuff should be about 2/3 up the forearm, proximal to the elbow. The handgrips for forearm crutches should always be faced forwa

Learning proper posture and body mechanics is vital to ensuring the safety of both the client and therapist. Good body mechanics helps prevent injuries and allows for increased mobility, balance, and stability. For example, when lifting a load (whether an object or client) it is very important to have a wide base of support and lift with your legs by bending at the hips and knees rather than the back. It helps to keep the load as close to you as possible and pivot your feet to turn rather than twisting at the lower back. These steps help to avoid injuries from falling over or over-straining back muscles when lifting.  Another example is when reaching for something up high, as in a cabinet, be sure to get a solid grip with your hands and use your arms and legs to avoid letting your back take on the full weight of the load. It is still better to keep the load as close to your body as possible because the further away it is, the more strain is placed on the lower back. Using step stools a

The wife in this story, who is missing three fingers, and the soldier, missing one, would both have a harder time grasping objects with those effected hands. Grasping is a necessary component of many occupations that we use our hands for on a daily basis. Driving, especially while making sharp turns with the steering wheel, is one such occupation that often requires bilateral hand grasping to maintain control. Therefore, driving the prized Cadillac would be difficult for either character that is missing digits. However, there are still ways the wife could steer the car effectively and continue basking in her victory.  Rather than placing both hands on the outer circle of the steering wheel, the effected hand could be placed in a device such as this   so she could complete sharp turns effectively without the danger of losing her grasp.

Social determinants of health are factors, such as education level, food, income, and shelter, that can greatly influence your overall health. For instance, not having a college degree limits your career options, and therefore possible income. With lower income, affordable housing may only be available in less safe areas. Also, this cheaper housing may be located in a "food desert," meaning access to fresh, healthy food is limited. Even when healthy foods are available, they will still likely be more expensive than the cheap, highly processed, foods. If you have a family to feed on a budget, you may have to rely on these less healthy foods as staples of your diet. Then, this poor diet can lead to a myriad of long term health effects including heart disease and diabetes. I grew up experiencing this same type of snowball effect but I feel like sometimes it's easy for people to overlook the negative impact these factors can have, especially if they have never experienced it

Scapulohumeral rhythm is a term used to describe the relationship between the movement of the scapula and the movement of the humerus. In general, the movement of the glenohumeral joint compared to the movement of the scapulothoracic functional joint has a ratio of 2:1. This means that during full 180 °  arm elevation, 120 °  will be movement at the glenohumeral joint while the remaining 60 °  is movement at the scapulothoracic joint.  Clinically, scapula movement is necessary to help maintain the subacromial space and avoid shoulder impingement. Also, scapulohumeral rhythm distributes the motion between two joints and allows for optimal length-tension relationship of the muscles involved. This joint congruency decreases the shear forces by keeping the glenoid fossa of the scapula in a position where it can hold onto the humeral head. This also helps prevent active insufficiency of the muscles around the glenohumeral joint. 

"Universal Design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design." -Ron Mace I absolutely love this quote and the entire idea behind it. The concept seems so simple, instead of making each individual find a way to use a product or the environment, why not just make it fully accessible in the first place? As I watched the Ted Talk on this topic, and the presentation on Assistive Technology (AT), it reminded me of last summer when my friends played the card game Uno together, a competitive game solely relying on color and number matching. There was just one problem, we forgot one of our friends is completely colorblind. He wanted to play with us but was frustrated he kept having to ask the person next to him if the card he wanted to play matched the one in the middle. My quick solution at the time was just to take a sharpie and write out the first letter of each co

Using proper procedures is important for both Manual Muscle Testing (MMT) and Range of Motion (ROM) tests to ensure you are recording accurate data. For ROM tests, bony landmarks are used to know where to align the axis and two arms of the goniometer. If someone was not aligning the goniometer with the correct landmarks, it may result in falsely recording a client's range of motion as more or less than it actually is, which might effect their goals and/or treatment. Accurate documentation is important for other health professionals with access to the same client's chart.  Positioning the goniometer this standardized way also increases inter-rater reliability because every therapist should be positioning it the same way. It would also similarly increase intrarater (same therapist) and test-rest reliability. Manual Muscle Testing is used to determine weak muscles. To record accurate data for this test, the muscle or joint being tested must be placed in an optimal position for c

Everyday I drive to school. The starting position when I am sitting in the driver's seat is such that my hips are flexed, my knees are slightly flexed, my left ankle is slightly plantar flexed to rest my foot on the floor, while my right ankle is slightly dorsiflexed to hover my foot over the gas pedal. To accelerate, I have to plantar flex my right ankle to push down on the pedal. Flexion at the hips and knees, as well as dorsiflexion and plantarflexion at the ankle, are all motions occurring in the sagittal plane around a frontal axis. The osteokinematics of the ankle joint are dorsiflexion to plantarflexion in an open kinematic chain because the proximal trunk is fixed in the seated position while the distal part, the foot, is moving. The arthrokinematics are that in plantarflexion the convex surface of the talus rolls posteriorly and glides anteriorly on the concave surfaces of the distal tibia and fibula. The prime movers for ankle plantarflexion are the gastrocnemius, soleus,

Establishing a therapeutic relationship of trust and competence is the most important part of being an OT. Without mutual respect and trust the client will be less inclined to put effort into their treatment and therefore reduce it's effectiveness. I have always struggled with my confidence in social settings, especially with new people or in large groups. So it will probably take some practice for me to get comfortable enough to make good first impressions on new clients. Trying not to go into the first interaction with a scripted checklist of all I need to cover, and just letting go to let the natural conversation flow, I think will help me seem less robotic and nervous.

Both Dr. Keisling's presentation and Judith Heumann's Tedx Talk established the importance of learning the history of a culture. By knowing the history of discrimination people with disabilities have faced, I feel like I can have a greater understanding of how far our society has come and how far we have left to go.  Today's presentation built on the important dates we learned about during the Era Presentations by adding more of the social component. For instance, we had mentioned institutionalization before but seeing documentary clips of the real conditions people were living in was as sobering to me today as I'm sure it must have been for people watching it on television in the late 60's. I also never knew about John F. Kennedy's sister Rosemary. Her story really illustrated how the mindset that people with disabilities had to be "hidden away" was so common that it permeated even the most influential families.  As a future OT practitioner I

The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF) is a document used by OT practitioners and students that summarizes and defines the terms and practices of OTs. It establishes a common language within the profession and therefore improves communication. It also helps to guide the OT process (evaluation, intervention, and outcomes).

One major role in my life right now is being an MOT 1 student. We have three weeks left in our Gross Anatomy course so a frequent occupation is studying. Within this occupation, an activity I do is reviewing the bones in our bone box. A task needed to complete this activity is grasping the bones with my fingers to see all the bony landmarks.

From technology to climate change, the world has changed rapidly in the past 100 years. However, something that has not changed is the occupation of holding and rocking babies to sleep. For instance, my mom used the same wooden rocking chair to rock all three of her children. Years of wear and tear have passed, but she still uses it today to rock my niece. Even with all the new gadgets on the market that can simulate a mother's warmth and heartbeat, that 25-year-old rocking chair and a nurturing presence still works just as well. And I suspect it always will.

I always find it difficult to answer  "Why/when did you decide to go into occupational therapy?"   because there was not really one big defining moment. Instead, several smaller moments guided me to where I am today.  Throughout all my schooling and job experience, I always loved science and working with children. While Anatomy appealed to me much more than General Chemistry and Biology, I knew I did not want to go the typical medical or nursing school route. I ended up shadowing a few different rehabilitation therapists before I finally shadowed some occupational therapists and was hooked.  It was as if the universe had a checklist of my passions and revealed one incredibly adaptable profession where I could use them all. A variety of possible pediatric settings to work in? Check. Creative rather than monotonous work? Check. Aligns with my personal values that all people deserve equal rights? Definite check. Ability to tie in sustainability and technology? Check and check.