14
Aug
2012
Roulink…
Start back to work Thurs. Lots to do! Sorry haven’t been blogging much lately. To be fair, the blogs of almost everybody suffer a decline in the summer!! Guess people like to read at work or when it’s cold and dark outside, hmm…
So much to say and share, then I get overwhelmed so share nothing. Ugh. so black and white. must work on my 50 shades of grey, yes? Lol….and my grammar. But it’s after midnight, so I get a semi-waiver. Just gonna show you guys the five tabs I currently have open to look at soon.
The first three links are all OT related….About a 3D printer, pull-boxes, and playing card holders for kids. The last two are random. I’m not going into more detail because I’m tired and going to bed and because this is like ROULETTE only ROULINK! 🙂 In the sense you don’t REALLY know where you’re going. But don’t worry, all these sites are legit and nothing not safe for work.
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
14
Aug
2012
Perfume ads: Olfactory Sensory Tool???
We’ve all met people who are allergic to perfume or don’t tolerate it well. This post isn’t for them. But for those who do tolerate smells, including chemical smells such as perfumes, beauty catalogs are often filled with perfume scent ads. I was absentmindedly going through my ULTA catalog that came in the mail, pulling out the perfume ads randomly, when I realized they could potentially be a sensory tool. So I placed them in a bag in case it ever comes in handy, as rule number one of being an OT is that you must be a hoarder….::ducks::
I might use it with some of my OT children *IF* I am sure they are not allergic or overly sensitive to those types of smells, as a form of “arousal”. The G-rated kind of arousal that allows them to simulate their senses through various modalities and pathways.
I know of some OTs who work patients who are comatose or have significant brain injuries, trying to slowly re-stimulate their senses and help bring about consciousness, and I wonder if any of them are able to use such scents, or if they are too harsh for those noses.
I also wonder if they could be used with people with dementia, to help trigger old memories. Have any of you ever smelled something that transported you into a memory? Perhaps an old perfume scent would be a trigger for them.
In terms of senses, many of us overlook the olfactory sense, but it can be quite powerful. There is something to be said for aromatherapies, for scent-based memories, and for awakening all our senses. On the other side, for people lacking various senses (such as the deaf/blind), or people with sensitivities to smells (such as pregnant women, people on chemotherapy), smell can be overwhelming. I know my roommate, who is deaf and almost blind due to Usher’s syndrome, has a very strong sense of smell and can definitely smell things we can’t. And when I volunteered at a pediatric cancer hospital, we were asked to not wear fragrances of any type, as the children on chemo were quite sensitive.
Scents/smells/olfactory sense is a tool that can be used in occupational therapy, but carefully. Being aware of allergies, sensitivities, and tolerance levels is very important so that you cause no harm. But don’t forget about the olfactory sense entirely! Used in conjunction with other tools, it can make a treatment session more powerful.
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
10
Aug
2012
I should have been a criminal…
I just got the application to renew my OT licensure so that I can continue practicing. Obviously very important. This will actually be my first renewal. I originally got a Tennessee license, but didn’t end up practicing in Tennessee – I ended up in Georgia. So I got a Georgia licensure. Then after a year I moved to California. So now I’ve stayed in CA long enough for a renewal, my first! Even though I graduated in May 2009. I was reminiscing on the fingerprint process. Now most licensures use LiveScan, where you go to special places that have digital scanners for your fingerprints.
Apparently, my fingerprints suck. It’s a very stressful experience getting my fingers printed, because the computer rejects them over and over again, and what should take 5 minutes takes about an hour of fussing and trying various tricks. So frustrating! I really should have been a criminal, considering how poorly my fingerprints process!! 🙂 Alas, I choose to err on the right side of crime, helping instead of harming. But if fingerprints were in charge of destiny, I would most certainly have ended up a criminal rather than an occupational therapist!!
PS: For those of you applying for licensure…yes, it’s a pain. Start as early as you can as everything will take longer than you think!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
8
Aug
2012
Dogs help children read…
I was just reading an article in my Tennessee alumnus magazine about a program that helps children learn to practice reading comfortably by reading to dogs. That’s my one sentence summary. I love the idea. For those of us working with young children, we can certainly encourage having parents encourage their children to practice their reading with a family pet or someone else’s pet! 🙂
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
8
Aug
2012
Bamboo skewers are an OT's best friend
I like to use bamboo skewers, although I didn’t like how big they normally are, ie for kebobs. I stick them in styrofoam (you know, the left-over white stuff that comes with electronics), and then have the child put little ring things around them…I found these shorter skewers at Publix and am excited! I may actually use all three sizes (my biggest size not pictured here) and have them do all three heights…
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
8
Aug
2012
Whoopsie doodles….when OT enters your own house
So my mom broke her ankle this weekend, had surgery today, about to go wake her up to give her pain medicine, but it's been full-OT mode here since Saturday in regards to toileting, bathing, walking with a walker versus crutches, transfers, weight-bearing, etc etc etc. Good thing I'm an OT or this would be a lot more daunting. Today as I was in the bathroom with her after helping her from wheelchair to toilet and then standing in corner with back to her for privacy, I had all sorts of flashbacks of working in rehab, lol.
I have so many things I want to write about in regards to it – including how annoying it was that the parking lot for the ortho surgeons was a pain in the ass in terms of accessibility. Ugh. But we did like our surgeon and the center. 🙂 And I think I have a bunch of other posts saved as drafts I can post. And I am finally home to write some of the posts I couldn't write while away! And I will be doing a MAGIC WEIGHTED BLANKET giveaway in the next few weeks, so stay tuned!!! 🙂
Karen
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
2
Aug
2012
OT was featured on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
So this post, is, oh, a little late, but it was still a neat article to read! A great guy who had a spinal cord injury was chosen for the episode, and his OT/PT/Rehab were factored heavily into the episode, which is awesome!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
2
Aug
2012
Accessibility and swimming
Another thought-provoking post by a wonderful guest blogger 🙂
Having been born with a disability, spina bifida, and requiring crutches to ambulate, I have always found exercise to be a major challenge. This is particularly true for those of us who live in climates where it snows for half the year as it does here in Canada. Time and again, rehab professionals have recommended swimming as a work out that is particularly suited for people with disabilities. And yet significant challenges remain as I was recently reminded.
I travelled with an able-bodied friend (I will call her Jane for the purposes of this blog to preserve anonymity) to attend a wedding and they had a swimming pool and whirlpool at the hotel. Unfortunately, I forgot my swimming trunks and decided I would simply accompany my friend while she swam. However, as soon as I entered the pool area, I found it extremely treacherous because of the slippery surface throughout the pool area. Crutches would not gain any traction as on ice. Although there was a lifeguard on duty, she simply ignored us. Eventually, Jane was able to move a pool chair to the edge of the whirlpool and she helped me remove my leg brace and shoes so that I could dip my feet in the whirlpool. Having never used a whirlpool before, it was one of the best experiences of my life. However, had I not had Jane with me, the extremely slippery surface would have made it all but impossible for me to participate. As it was, I fell down on the way out but luckily did not break any bones.
Unfortunately, this is a structural problem not confined to one pool. When I took swimming lessons a few years back, the pool change rooms were equally hazardous. Those of us who do not have access to wheelchairs, which I am hardly in a position to buy for one activity, face the dismal choice of not participating, risking injury or crawling (which many find demeaning). None of these choices is very appealing. With an array of OT programs in North America and the technology to send people to the moon, I would hope that an OT discovers a way to allow crutch users to participate more easily and independently in the fun world of swimming.
Ravi Malhotra is Associate Professor of the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, University of Ottawa and may be reached at ravi.malhotra@uottawa.ca
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1
1
Aug
2012
What's in YOUR OT toolbox?
I found this as a draft from 2007?!!!! I do have a pediatric OT toolbox video on Youtube that’s super old. I have a newer one I posted on this blog that I guess I should post on Youtube, although I think I’m ready to do an updated one again!
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So…I made a video based on what I keep in a little box for when I am a real occupational therapist and not just a student…but I know there is lots I haven’t thought of. So my question to you all is….what is in YOUR OT toolbox? Via text or pictures or video, let me know…I’ll post it. I’d LOVE to get more ideas.
One day I’ll actually get good at setting up videos, but for now, y’all gotta bear with my learning curve.
Here was the stuff I talked about, if I remember correctly, in no particular order:
1. Duct tape
2. Nylon cable ties
3. Jumbo playing cards
4. A laundry detergent cap
5. Non-skid liner, often called dycem
6. rubber bands
7. Play money
8. Dollar store occupation-based ideas – like a map puzzle for people who like to travel to use to talk about, or sort, or do…or whatever.
Oh no I’m blanking on what else! Guess you gotta watch the video to find out the rest. LET ME KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR TOOLBOX! What can you not live without?
I already know my friend Burt is “cogitating” on a mini video to do on basic REAL tools he thinks all OTs should carry around…he is my tool hero. And his 17-year old daughter, Sarah, is my textbook hero because I show her diagrams out of my books (like Trombley, Pendretti, Willard & Spackman…) and make her teach me things. For example, we learned in an adaptive activities of daily life lab the other day some one-handed dressing techniques for button-down shirts, but then I was confused by the diagrams in the book and it would have taken me a while to figure it out, and so I showed them to her and she taught me in about 2 seconds because her brain likes diagrams and mine doesn’t. I’ve already decided she should follow me around for the rest of my life helping me with environmental modifications and anything else requiring a physics/math/3-D artistic brain. I know my strengths and weaknesses…I don’t plan to work in a setting that requires a lot of those things!
Ok I’m gonna go check my laundry now and convince myself it’s going to be okay. I have a serious phobia about washing machines and dryers. I’m always convinced they are either going to flood or blow up. I’m serious. I have no issue with flying across the country by myself, walking up to strangers to ask a question, dealing with insurance, or being in a mildly scary part of town…all the stuff that scares a lot of people….but get me near a blender, a microwave, a washing machine/dryer, or any other machine that plugs in and makes noise, and I am SCARED!
Okay,I totally wasted way too long going off on multiple tangents. Probably procrastination from having to go face the scary laundry. Dum dum DUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none