sweet comment and school OT stuff

I get nice comments on and off, but this is by far one of my favorites 🙂

“I like your blog because it is real. There are some other OT bloggers out there who blabber on and on about political OT stuff, and there is a lot of talk, but no real life connection. You are real life, and I love that. “

That was left by Tonya on my last post. I REALLY appreciated that, Tonya. More than you can imagine. There are some really good OT bloggers out there now who are very smart and very articulate. They post a lot about research and their treatments in great detail. I really admire their work, but it also makes me feel intimidated and stupid in comparison. My blog is nothing but a bunch of babbling most of the time (especially now!). But it is REAL, like she said. I share my thoughts, haphazard as they may be, and it's honest ponderings (I think I made that word up, lol). So on days when I read those other blogs and cringe at my own blog in comparison, I'll try to remember comments like Tonya's that remind me I still have readers who like my babbling, haha. Plus I heard from Meredith, a brand spanking new OT student who is REALLY enthusiastic and apparently told her class that she got interested in OT because of my blog mostly! Things like that make me happy and make me feel like I am contributing to the Centennial Vision by getting new people interested in this amazing field. I LOOOOOOVE occupational therapy – I don't always think it's done correctly (and that includes myself in that category), but when it's done right, it can make such a monstrous difference. And it spills over to everyday life. Yesterday I spoke to a friend my age who has trouble remembering to take her pills. I talked to her about using a cell phone alarm or something else, at the time of day she is most consistently at a certain spot, and to keep them at that spot, etc etc. She appreciated the advice. Sounds simple, but she hadn't thought of it. Common sense is not always common!

I just got back from Pilates Plus – walk down, the 45 minute intense strengthening class, then the walk back up the dreaded hill of doom. Ooh how I hated to walk up the hill with a heavy backpack after school! But I know it was good for me….both for the fresh air and sunshine and the cardiovascular exercise of course. Southern CA has for the most part had a string of lovely, warm, sunny days. Minus the fog of yesterday. I told my Facebook friends the fog was my part. I had been lamenting it was hard to study (in preparation for the job interview) because of how nice it was and boom I woke up to the fog. Someone is listening up there! 😉

I heard back from a hospital last night – I'm about to call them. And then I'm going to start calling individual schools. My friend who is a school teacher recommended contacting individual schools, not just the district, to let them know of my availability as an OT. I'm going to wait to start calling the nursing homes or adult positions until early next week.

A tip the school teacher told me about that an OT recommended which I have actually never heard – or at least not remembered – was that she taped sand paper to the bottom of a kid's desk so he had something he could feel during class…I thought that was a good idea for some kids who needed that kind of sensory input! As always, don't do anything I talk about without going through proper channels! haha

Alright. I have quite a bit of school studying to do – reading up on the basic IDEA laws, IEPs, objectives, Section 504, assessments like the SFA, etc. And phone calls to make. So I better stop. My goal tonight is to write up the behavioral health shower and/or groups post!

Favorite quote from lady with dementia EVER (one of my patients)

Patient: You're a pretty girl, aren't you
Me: Thanks!
Patient: Would you be so pretty WITH YOUR HEAD CUT OFF?
Me: Probably not!

Jan 20, 2011 | Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 3