23 Jul 2012

Pictures from AOTA 2012 Indiana conference :)


So I had to go through security with fake flowers and a tiara. I ended up scarring myself with the tiara, literally, as it was pressed against my upper arm while I ran through the airport. So I have a tiara scar now. 

SAN DIEGO BABY 2013 YEAH!!!! COME!! I’m having an OT party!! 

My esteemed and awesome Cheryl Morris who lead our presentation

The charismatic army OT guy Erik

Anita (virtual OT – in pajamas), me, Miss OTPF in pageantry wear, Erik, Army OT guy in uniform, Chris Alterio, OT business owner in a suit, and Cheryl, sweet Cheryl, in a lovely dress as our leader. 

Erik used the water pitcher to hold up his recording iPad. 

Go Anita. 

Wow. Tech room. 

Libby, a precious lovely blog reader and now a wonderful friend, who let me stay with her and her OT classmate Erica at conference, guarding our stuff…

Anita in action.

She was taking a picture of Erik playing star wars on the Kinect during his presentation 

Miss OTPF, Erik Army OT guy, Anita Virtual OT 

I love you Frankie!!!! :swoon:: BrOT 🙂 

Me, Libby, Erica, and Frankie….we need a name for our little group of awesomeness! 

LIBBY!!! 

Love you Frankie (we actually met him at conference, he was one of Anita’s students). He’s so chill, on Sunday morning we were in bed and he knocks on our door and just climbs into my bed to play on his phone while we waited on the other girls. 🙂 

Erik’s SUITE, fancy room, after the AOTF gala….

So a booth gave me this free instant snow bin to take home with me, which luckily TSA allowed in my checked luggage, and I love it, and I put a bunch of my monsters in it, but then I took them back out. Because most of my kids didn’t like the texture, and it was messy, and worst of all, the snow smelled SO BAD!!!! But to be fair I think if I got the snow and did it outside and didn’t put plastic things in it and didn’t let a thousand kids touch it (this was the sample stuff they let people touch all day), it would be pretty cool. It lasts for WEEKS at least, it feels like real snow almost, and it stays cool to the touch, even at room temperature. So pretty cool stuff to try, I think. 🙂 

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23 Jul 2012

Novelty OT toys picked up on my trip…


So, I have all those shark grabber things where you pinch the handle to open/close the shark’s mouth, and I am going to float duckies in water and then have them grab them. And those little duckies I got out of those $50 cent containers at a shopping market cuz they were super adorable, whether they float or not. I’ll use those with tongs. 

These are those prickly pattern boards where you put beads on them and I guess melt them, but I won’t take it to the melting phase. Just have them maybe do an outline, or maybe make a pattern and have them copy it, or add a face to that weird horse puppy character, or who knows. 

I have a tong fetish. In the sense that I try to collect as many types of tongs and tweezers as possible for my kids to use, and I found these in Norway, old fashioned wooden tongs. Great tool for the kids to work on hand strengthening, coordination, etc, but also fun! 

I got these at a museum in Norway even though they are in English, because the bugs in there are pretty high quality and cool, many of my little OT boys love bugs and especially like weird bugs, and there were plenty of weirdos in this package. 

I got these at Publix. Sword picks, mini forks, and flamingos. Hard to see, yes my photography sucks, sorry. But again great for putting in styrofoam, or using in clay, etc etc. 

My kids love Stretchables more than almost anything else. They always clamor to keep one as a prize. I sometimes give in, but try not to give in too often as they add up in price. I don’t manage to find stretchable-animals too often (and when I do its usually lizards or frogs) so when I do find them I stock up. I got three packages of these once I saw the colors/shapes were a little different in each package. We mostly use these for tongs, and sometimes we use them as our invisible game friends, ie when it’s just me and a kid and we want to play a game with like 3 or 4 people, we designate stretchables as people and they take turns….

All of these things were bought either in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Denmark, or Norway, lol. Some of it I could probably find back in CA, but if I saw it and hadn’t seen it before, I got it just in case. I seriously have an obsession with buying stuff for my OT kids to use!!! 

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23 Jul 2012

More novelty OT toys


I have never tried this with my kids before, but I have certainly seen many other OTs use this kind of thing. Where you use repeated stencils, kind of, to make a complicated looking drawing. 

Mini sling shot. It kind of sucks, I tried it. But I may see how it does with little angry birds. 

Cheap gloves with velcro on them for the fuzzy ball. Super cheap, worth a try. 

These are actually golf tees in the shape of Eiffel tower. I love golf tees for use in styrofoam. Or who knows. Somehow, they will get used. 🙂 

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23 Jul 2012

Novelty toys I may use in OT

Random cheap pencil I bought in Norway, figured the crazy erasers would make it a little heavier plus be “cool” as sometimes the best way to get a child to write is just to provide a cool writing utensil. 🙂 


This Rubik’s cube was super cheap so I got it, and then a friend gave me this tiny little metal puzzle. I think it might end up being a nice fidget. 

That yellow pencil is just a giant eraser, the square thing is also an eraser but it’s a cube that comes apart so you can put it back together, and then feet paper clips. All just stuff that may or may not end up in use for OT sessions, if nothing else than for novelty. 

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23 Jul 2012

Apple of my eye or OT session

This is one of those “stay fresh containers” you can buy for vegetables, where the top is clear and comes off this one is a stay fresh tomato one, but I will probably use it as an apple and have kids put “worms” in it using tongs.  Try to not be too overly impressed with my crazy mad awesome photography skills. 😡 My friend was like, want me to get you some different backdrops etc and I was like no, I’ve made a conscious choice to have crappy pictures so that I can get them done fast….

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23 Jul 2012

My new Norwegian friend

This random stick thing is some character in Norwegian children films. I think it’s super cute and adorable, don’t ask me why. And don’t ask me HOW exactly, but I see him showing up in OT sessions in the future somehow. Hmmm. 

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23 Jul 2012

Ziplock Big Bags for OT storage

I carry sooo many tiny items to work on fine motor, and have tons of self-made “kits” ie fine motor kits, sensorimotor kits, visual motor kits…and I think having these bags will be awesome to put together visible kits that don’t take up a lot of room. I think they have L, XL, and XXL. I haven’t tried them yet, but I go home Tuesday and plan to start organizing toys ASAP. I just saw these at Publix and bought them to try them out! 

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22 Jul 2012

21 Jul 2012

"Famous" OT blog ;)

I copied this out of an e-mail (all the old ones I am going through finally). Someone was telling another person they should meet me at conference: “If you are going to the AOTA meeting, you might enjoy meeting my friend from California, Karen Dobyns. She is the famous blogger about OT (just google occupational therapy student blog). I don’t know how to describe people well but Karen looks like an OT basically. She has that same caring-giving OT look all OTs have and her pictures are on her web site although she doesnt usually wear the Miss OTPF tiara.”




This cracked me up! AHAHAAHA….I don’t know about my fellow bloggers, but I have to wear a baseball cap and sunglasses just to go get some milk at 5am, because otherwise the fans just MOB me!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahahahaahahaha


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21 Jul 2012

"Anita" – woman with Down syndrome – movie – OT relevant?

My best friend’s dad sent me this information, I have not seen it or heard of it but sounds interesting! Libby, have you heard of this one?? Don’t forget you and your brother owe me a guest post some time! Once your universe settles down. 🙂


I want to share the information about this film because it is the acting work of an amazing young person with down syndrome. Also, it is a very riveting story told by a good filmmaker. Ala and I saw it and loved it!

“Anita”
This heart-warming film tells the story of a young woman with Downs syndrome (Alejandra Manzo) who lives a happy, routine life in Buenos Aires where she is meticulously cared for by her mother Dora (Academy Award-nominee Norma Aleandro). One tragic morning in 1994, everything changes when Anita is left alone, confused, and helpless after the nearby Argentine Israelite Mutual Association is bombed. As Anita wanders the city, she learns not only to care for herself but touches the lives of those around her.

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