Thank my sister for my crushed OT identity…

Last night, my mom and I went to pick up my sister at the airport. I was wearing my OT jacket that most of the girls in my class wear constantly (see above), and it has my full name embroidered on it. In retrospect it would have been cooler (and safer) to just have my first name, but hindsight is 20/20. ANYWAY, she saw my jacket and started laughing. She was like….OT isn't a sport…and you aren't on a team…and your full name is embroidered on it…that is so funny…you all seriously wear those?….etc etc etc

And so then I punched her in the face.

No, just kidding, but she did temporarily crush my OT soul. Or at least my OT fashion sense.

Don't fall down!! OT Neuro Lab

This was a really neat lab where we put vibrators (get your mind out of the gutter) on the Achilles tendons of a person who was blind-folded. We had the person (in this case, Stephanie, who btw just got married!!! Congratulations!!) on the table so that everyone (including our distance ed component in Chattanooga) could see better. It turns out that when you put vibration in this area while blind-folded, you get really disoriented and can potentially lose your balance.

If I were the kind of neuro student my professor wanted me to be, I would remember what this lab/lecture was about. But I’m not. My brain is broken for the holiday. So. It was still cool.

I decided to write this up because A) I just went through my thousands of OT pictures in order to send some to a faculty member for some project, and B) a really sweet person who just graduated OT school wrote me the nicest e-mail in the world, and C) we are waiting to pick my sister up from the airport and just found out it is delayed and D) I’m paranoid of losing all my beloved readers!!

The End.

Pre-Happy Holidays

“The 2008 Assembly of Student Delegates (ASD) Steering Committee Election will be held online from January 14 to February 20, 2008. All AOTA student members are eligible to vote.” –

if you are not an AOTA member, become one! I promise it's worth it! And if you are an AOTA member…go check all the candidates out (you have to be a member to see the information) and then decide I'm the best for OT Vice Chairperson 🙂

http://www.aota.org/Govern/Elections/asde.aspx

So this isn't necessarily the most rousing “VOTE FOR ME” (And Brooke Ward!) post…but I'm OT-ed out for a while! It's the holidays! Send me material if you have some and I'll try to post occasionally so no one thinks I'm dead…but I don't really plan to get back into this full-gear until January 3rd, when classes start again…(it was supposed to be the 7th, then switched to the 4th, now the 3rd…..aren't we lucky). It's a semester that focuses on geriatrics, so get excited!…as OTS Meg would say.

AND, I'll start campaigning in earnest after Christmas…

Happy Holidays!!

Occupational Therapy School Withdrawal?

I have a confirmed case of OTSW. And I'm not the only one.

The day classes ended in December, I went home and had a mini freak-out session. I am a creature of habit and even though I love breaks, the transition is still hard on me. I thought I was the only one, but then I talked to two other OT students that night who were feeling equally frazzled. I was surprised.

I have been eating, sleeping, and breathing OT for so long – it's weird going days without the topic coming up!! I have kept in touch with OTS Kerri, Virginia, Brooke, and Allison…I need to contact some other girls too! OTS Stephanie just got married and the pictures on Facebook look breathtaking! The OT students who attended had t-shirts that said “OT Buddy”…cute!

I am looking forward to writing the post of play as occupation, and sharing a few new bloggers with you. I'm also looking forward to an interesting SURPRISE blog project….0o0o0o0ooooh. And now I'm looking forward to SLEEP.

Pumpkin muffins and Spanish. There is no relation.

This was my first full day back in San Diego.

Mom and I hit Costco for a ton of stuff, which included fresh berries. We also spent over an hour in our backyard with the cats, since it was a beautiful warm and sunny day. We could see white sailboats way far away in the ocean. It was very peaceful. We also went to a Gem fair, where she spent hundreds of dollars while I followed her around reading a book. I'm talented that way.

Tonight we made chocolate pumpkin muffins with peanut butter chips. It was yum. Except, this is the grossest thing in the world – a fly apparently got on a muffin without us knowing AND IT GOT BAKED!!!!!!!!!!!!! A FLY WAS BAKED ON TOP OF A MUFFIN!! I AM BARFING INSIDE MY MOUTH RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!

I've been in the Eastern, Central, and Pacific time zones in the last week (thanks Scott), so I guess it's understandable that I'm really tired!

This morning I watched my mom interact with Lupita, the lady who cleans the house and only speaks Spanish, and then also use ASL with her roommate, Andy, who has Usher's syndrome and is therefore deaf with very low vision. I am envious of my mom's ability to speak English, Spanish, French, and ASL. I only know English, Norwegian, and a few words of Spanish and ASL. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of need for Norwegian in the U.S, haha.

I'm thinking about the possibility of spending some time in a Spanish immersion program after I graduate. I have heard bilingual OTs are in high demand. I have had Spanish most of my life, but I always forget it – immersion is the only way that works for me. I had one year of Norwegian when I was 15 via immersion in Norway, and I am still more or less fluent. Yet I've had Spanish probably 14 years of my life, and only remember a few words!! That isn't cool.

All I know is…I think it would be good for me to speak Spanish relatively fluently, as a U.S. occupational therapist.

Holiday Disclaimer: My MOT student journey includes breaks, so I'm in San Diego for the next few weeks. Not all posts will have to do with OT!

The Centennial Vision EXPLODES

I was talking to my non-OT friend the other day, who reads my blog, and she spit out phrases like “activities of daily life” and “Centennial Vision” like she was in OT school herself. I was like rock on, sister!

OT is NOT just walking up and down the halls…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was talking to a friend's mother the other day on the phone. She asked me how school was going and what exactly I was doing again. I told her I was in occupational therapy school, and she said “Oh, that will be a nice easy job. Just walking people up and down the hall holding onto their belt.” AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And so then I had a brain aneurysm.

Leadership comes in many forms…

To me, a leader is always the person willing to scream for everyone's attention in a room filled with people. Because I am not that comfortable addressing large groups, I always assumed that automatically meant I was and would never be a leader.

Lately, during our OT PDEs (Professional Development Evaluations), I discovered that most of my criteria fit into the “Leader Change Agent” section. I was very surprised. And lately a lot of people have talked about me being a natural leader. Again, I don't really “get” it, but I've been thinking about the different ways a person can be a leader. I have realized that you don't have to be the loudest or most determined person in the room – you can be quiet and confident and lead by example, or you can have qualities that allow you to motivate people down a certain path. There are many ways to lead, and I always try to remember that followers should not be dependent on a leader. Rather the leader should give “followers” the skills that will allow them the ability to become leaders themselves. This kind of ties into the Centennial Vision – I will never be that loud leader, but I can lead through example and exposure, via online sources. And thereby close the circle of life, koom bah yay mah lord.

A pseudo developmental profile on Chase, Super Hero 2.5 year old…

Pictures: Combination of Sher, Craig, Chase, and me. Blogger is being butt-heady so I can’t caption them individually right now.

I spent this past weekend visiting some old friends, Sher and Craig, who live in Florida. I have known them both since I was 13, before they even knew each other! I met them both online originally. I used to visit Sher every few years, and then she and Craig got married, and I visited them once, and then they had a baby…and I only just now got a chance to see them again! Their baby, Chase, is now 2 and a half! I was looking forward to seeing them and meeting their child.

I quickly realized that Chase is phenomenal. He speaks in complete sentences with proper grammar, has great fine motor skills, great motor skills, and great cognition. I’ve never met a smarter kid his age. And beyond being smart, he was loving and sweet. I was very impressed.

Here was my favorite conversation with him:

Him: ::kisses my arm:::
Me: Thanks! I’m going to take this kiss and put it in my pocket for later.
Him: No! Don’t put it in your pocket! Keep it out!

—-

What I also thought was neat is that they have “Chase Cam” – they have a webcam over his bed to serve as a baby monitor. They can watch him on their TV while in other rooms and it obviously provides more information than just an auditory baby monitor. It could maybe be a great idea for deaf parents (?). Also, they have given the private webcam address to Chase’s grandparents, so they can tune in for bedtime too! It’s otherwise private. 🙂
———

While Sher & Craig know I am just an OT student and could not do any formal assessments, they were still interested in hearing my opinion on his development, just out of curiosity. I’m no expert but I am going to try and share my thoughts. So, when you think about developmental assessments frequently used in OT, they typically measure some or all of four domains: gross motor, fine motor, cognition, and/or speech.

Speech: you don’t often come across a 2 and a half year old boy who speaks clearly and in complete sentences!!

Cognition: Chase knew his colors, letters, basic numbers, shapes, could easily engage in pretend play, could imitate lots of emotions (ie sad, mad, happy, embarrassed, surprised…), and was able to discuss his opinions. He could verbalize his own feelings and answer “Why” questions with no problem.

Fine motor skills: He still uses a pronated grasp with crayons (a backwards fist with the thumb downward), which I believe is developmentally appropriate at his age. (I don’t have access to any OT material for the next few weeks so if anyone wants to correct me, go for it.). He can manipulate objects within his hands and showed good finger-to-palm translation when handed small objects. That means he could pick up a coin with his index finger and thumb, then move it to his palm and hold it there, without using his other hand for help. I thought that was pretty good for a kid his age!!

Gross motor skills: He appears to be right-handed. He was able to cross midline, walk on his heels, tiptoe, run, jump, dance, balance himself, and climb. He showed good flexibility and motor planning.

The five well-known senses: Appeared within normal limits.

The three lesser-known senses so popular in Ayres’ Sensory Integration:
Proprioception: Normal (sense of body in space)

Vestibular: Normal, he was completely fine & enjoyed being hung upside down or swung high in the air. He would occasionally, but very rarely, show “gravitational insecurity” in regards to being held upside down, but it was typically when not given warning or just not being in the mood.

Tactile: Normal, although he showed slight inconsistency with his ability to handle various tactile challenges. For example, sometimes he would happily stick his entire hand in paint to fingerpaint, while other times he would carefully hold something with just a finger or two to prevent the paint from getting on his hands. However, I think this type of slight inconsistency is normal at this age (or really any age), and that overall Chase is completely developmentally appropriate, advanced in all major domains! I think he is the first kid I’ve spent time with in a long time who did not have some sort of disability!

His Super Hero Aptitude Score: 100% 😉

Disclaimer as always: I’m just a student, and now I’m even without access to my OT materials. I frequently make mistakes or misunderstand. Take everything I say with a grain of salt and go see a real OT. 🙂

———–
His parents and I exchanged a few e-mails about this post, and we clarified some things. We discussed some ideas for texture play – not that he has any issues, but just that it’s fun stuff to do with any kid!!

*Experiment with rough (ie sandpaper) versus smooth (silk)
*Put something grainy into the fingerpaints like oatmeal flakes or seeds..make sure it is nothing sharp.
*Fill up a bin with dried beans and rice, and put toys in it for him to find, and let him just play around with it…(it can get messy so choose wisely where to do this. *Show him some toys with very distinct shapes, put them into a small box with a hand hole in it, and let him put his hand in it and try and decide what object he is holding without looking at it…based solely on feel. It works on tactile discrimination. You can “grade” the activity by showing him the toys first, or only using 2 very diffferent toys, or whatever necessary to make it easier. It may be too advanced for him since he may not be willing to NOT look…
*An entire play session on Texture Time…playing with bumpy, smooth, rough, goey, slimey, watery, hard…basically anything you can think of.

I typed in “sensory games” into Google and found these cool websites below with great ideas. And again – don’t necessarily get stressed out if your kid isn’t cool with all textures. Everyone has their preferences. If you are concerned, contact your pediatrician/OT/someone with a license…;)

http://www.ecewebguide.com/preschool_themes/five_senses/sensory_games.htm

http://www.copi
ng.org/intervention/sensory/sensintegact.htm

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-integration-activities.html

Goal for next week: a post on play as occupation

E-mail amnesty…

I went from 1284 e-mails in Gmail an hour ago, to about 40 e-mails in Gmail to go through. Primarily because I liberally filtered and archived items that probably needed responses, but I was too overwhelmed. I for sure owe “Cookie Gimp” and famed OT of NZ, Merrolee, some e-mails…but other than that, I have declared e-mail amnesty. If you e-mailed me and I didn't respond, e-mail me again. I'll try and keep up this time now that I'm on holiday break!! Thanks for all the great comments and e-mails!