6
Dec
2012
Heavy clothes, calm bodies? Blast from the past
One more picture from the Marie Curie article in Smithsonian 🙂 Look at how heavy their clothes were. I wonder how scratchy they were. I’m guessing that perhaps, if nothing else, the heaviness was calming, even if uncomfortable texture wise! No seamless undies back then!! 🙂
I was recently reading Songs of the Gorilla Nation and she was talking about how she always wore leather and dark sunglasses, because the leather was so weighted and calming, and the sunglasses reduced input, etc. I thought that was fascinating because I know we all have seen people in um, unusual or interesting get-ups, and made assumptions. But we all know what they say, when you “assume” you make an “ass” out of “u” and “me”….lol
I want to write more soon about sensory profiles….we all have them!!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
6
Dec
2012
Finding and Marketing Your OT Niche
Guest post! Starting…now!
Finding and Marketing Your OT Niche
The second rule in marketing any professional service is to know your audience; the first is know yourself, but as an occupational therapist, you have this part covered—for the most part. You know you want to provide exceptional service, but to whom and how may still be challenging questions. A common mistake in business is the “we’ll-fit-anyone” approach, which results in a jack-of-all-trades master-of-none phenomenon. While you may catch a few flitting minnows, you certainly won’t attract the loyal marlins that can make your business a true success.
So how do you avoid the one-size-fits-all trap? Narrow your focus to find your niche, and thus better position yourself and your profession to grow. This way, your marketing is targeted, specific, and tailored to attract the audience you truly want.
Finding Your Niche
The AOTA explains that “to meet society’s occupational needs, occupational therapy practitioners need to respond to how society is changing and evolving.” To support that, they “researched trends in the six broad areas of practice defined through the Centennial Vision process.” They then go on to list those emerging niches, but which niche do you choose?
While written for PTs, Jeff Worrell’s whitepaper entitled “Build Your Practice by Finding Your Physical Therapy Niche” is packed full of niche finding advice that all rehab therapists can consider. Worrell suggests, “Take some time to jot down your experiences on a piece of paper…be as specific as possible. Look for similarities and highlight the experiences that are similar.” For example, Monster.com shares several stories of OTswho happened to find employment in assisted-living facilities who went on to not only specialize in this arena, but used their knowledge to provide consulting services.
Worrell also offers a questionnaire as a guide to finding your niche:
· What type of occupational therapy work do you enjoy doing?
· What is the market potential for the area you’re interested in focusing on?
· What type of patients do you enjoy working with?
· What experience do you have that can help you be successful in your chosen niche?
· Are there other occupational therapists who have built a successful practice in this niche?
Still in school or considering dipping your toes in a different OT pool? Try immersing yourself in several different specialties to find where your heart truly lies. Reference the AOTA’s list of emerging niches, which links to supporting topics, conditions, populations, and other helpful info, to aid with your search.
Marketing Your Niche
Got the “to whom” question answered? Now it’s time to tackle the how.
Go Where Your Prospects Are
This might sound simple, but the best way to reach your potential market may very well be to go where they go. Have a marketing budget—even just a small one? Spend it to promote with publications and websites and attend events and trade shows where the people you wish to reach are already active. Instead of recreating the wheel, use the resources and tap into the communities that already exist to reach your prospective customers.
Immerse Yourself in the Community
Want to help children and youth? Check out your local school district for opportunities to g
et involved with—and thus promote your services to—programs helping children fight obesity; teaching disabled children to drive; or creating awareness about autism. Hoping to work with the elderly? Scout out community mobility associations and groups dedicated to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Don’t have the time to devote to every group you come across? Identify the ones you are most passionate about and focus there; then consider sponsorship, advertising, and participation.
et involved with—and thus promote your services to—programs helping children fight obesity; teaching disabled children to drive; or creating awareness about autism. Hoping to work with the elderly? Scout out community mobility associations and groups dedicated to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Don’t have the time to devote to every group you come across? Identify the ones you are most passionate about and focus there; then consider sponsorship, advertising, and participation.
Be a Thought Leader
At the point that you’ve promoted and immersed yourself in the community, you’ve basically become a thought leader for your OT specialty. As a thought leader, you can apply your knowledge online through social and blogging as well as in your community. For example, if you focus on worker rehabilitation, you could provide educational seminars and blog posts on ergonomics and workplace injury prevention.
At the point that you’ve promoted and immersed yourself in the community, you’ve basically become a thought leader for your OT specialty. As a thought leader, you can apply your knowledge online through social and blogging as well as in your community. For example, if you focus on worker rehabilitation, you could provide educational seminars and blog posts on ergonomics and workplace injury prevention.
Reaping the Benefit
Let’s talk increased referrals and references. Once you get your name out there as a specialist in a particular occupational therapy area, local physicians and professionals in your industry will send—and continue to send—patients your way for the specific issues in which your expertise shines. That’ll garner you—and the profession in general—some serious kudos.
What advice do you have for other therapists seeking a niche? How do you market your niche? Do you think having a niche specialty helps you better promote the OT field?
About the Authors
Charlotte Bohnett and Erica Cohen are both Senior Copywriters at WebPT, the leading cloud-based EMR software designed specifically for the rehab community. For follow-up questions or additional information about WebPT, please contact them at copy@webpt.com.
Charlotte Bohnett and Erica Cohen are both Senior Copywriters at WebPT, the leading cloud-based EMR software designed specifically for the rehab community. For follow-up questions or additional information about WebPT, please contact them at copy@webpt.com.
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
5
Dec
2012
Norwegian alphabet…bet that AE combo is hard to teach
The Norwegian alphabet has three more letters. An AE combo, an O with a diagonal, and an A with a circle over it. Can you imagine teaching three more letters than we already do? For that matter, teaching special ed with much more challenging alphabets than ours…..aughhh
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
3
Dec
2012
holding sick babies :)
My facebook status tonight:
Just got back from my Sunday shift holding NICU babies. I was holding babies that had been born at just a pound, so even many months later they were the size of a newborn! Whenever I hold my babies the song that always comes to mind and I hum to them is Edelweiss…”…may you bloom and grow…bloom and grow forever.”
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Every Sunday for 3 hours I hold babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at a downtown hospital. Some have drugs in their system (so they are being weaned, and are quite irritable, not to mention other problems), others were born at 23 or 24 weeks at only a pound in size….I don't hold them until the babies are more stable and a little bigger (ie more than a few pounds and able to tolerate and benefit from touch). The official volunteer title is “Cuddler”..even our badges say it 🙂 I love it. But my arms/back get sore because of the positions I end up in!
I need to remember to cut the buttons off my shirt. Volunteers wear a uniform polo that have three buttons that are quite high up so I never button them anyway, and sometimes the baby is pressing against them which can't be comfortable. But the buttons are sewed on sooo tightly I can't use normal scissors. First world problems, right? 🙂
I have been holding babies only since around August here in San Diego, but I held them over a year when I lived in Memphis. Even though the song “Edelweiss” (which I first heard in Sound of Music) is normally never in my head, it ALWAYS comes to me when I am rocking my babies. I find the idea of wishing for them to “bloom and grow forever” to be so applicable. 🙂
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 3
2
Dec
2012
Beautiful nesting puzzles
While reading a “birth story” from some mom in Australia that I found while playing on Reddit (playing on the Internet is like one big ADHD skit), I found this website with stunning toys. Unfortunately this store is located in Australia but I'm guessing with some basic sleuthery (ie, you know, a google search), they may be available here.
I really liked the nesting puzzles! Some would take quite a bit of fine motor AND focus.
Today was a very non productive day as I was exhausted, but it ended with a six hour pozole (a soup) making marathon from start to finish, and tomorrow I hope to do some more resting, a little work, hold babies at the hospital, and see a friend.
Maybe within the spectrum of work and rest there can be some blog time. If “relaxation” is a zero, and “work” (meaning my actual paying job) is a 12, I think blogging and Miss Awesomeness related pursuits are about a 3 through 7 depending on what it is!
That last paragraph was completely and utterly useless information, and I apologize to your eyeballs and neurons for that.
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
1
Dec
2012
What we write is not always read with our own filter…
I took this picture at the airport to remind me to go re-read Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret. I know I liked that book as a child and I too remember it mostly being about puberty. But here in an interview with the author she writes about how she actually wrote it to be about the child’s relationship with God. So I want to go back and read it through that “filter of her intent”, but also, to remind myself that sometimes we make things for one reason and it gets recognized for other reasons (sometimes good, sometimes bad). 🙂 I’m in the process of writing children’s books right now (simple ones, and one of which I hope to get out quite soon) and I want to start a chapter book soon, but want to keep things like this in mind!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
30
Nov
2012
Some favorite occupational therapy toys aka popular Christmas gifts :)
I know there are a lot of toy posts floating around out there, and I’m sure they are all way better than mine. But I did want to share three of my favorite things – play visions, safari, and zinkies. I use all of these quite a lot in occupational therapy with my kids and I am a big fan and my kids always want to keep them too.
Nobody is (unfortunately) paying me to say any of that either. 🙂 I can probably put together a more thorough post with more favorites soon, but this is just a quickie. As always use with caution, remember choking hazards, blah blah blah insert common sense disclaimer here. 🙂
NOTE: All these toys are intended for children who do NOT put things in their mouth anymore!! I’m thinking at least preschool age, I use it for elementary school aged kids.
I LOOOVE my play visions stretchy mice and cheese, although all my kids only know it as “Monster cheese” 🙂 I don’t use the mice that come with it, I just use tiny creatures (Zinkies, Safari figurines, etc) and the cheese eats it all up then “throws it up”. 🙂 This is a great toy that works on bilateral coordination, motor planning, fine motor skills, etc. I attached an Amazon affiliate link but if you want to go straight to the original source, here it is:
http://www.playvisions.com/product/142635/563/_/Stretchy_Mice_and_Cheese
http://www.playvisions.com/product/142635/563/_/Stretchy_Mice_and_Cheese
If you just check out playvisions.com in general they have some pretty neat stuff. I’m the biggest fan of their stretchy hyperflex stuff, but they have a lot of cool products.
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“Goodluck Mini Fun Pack” by Safari LTD
This is another one of my favorite things. I attached a convenient Amazon affiliates link where you can get a little pack, but if you want to go straight to the source:
My kids beg me to get these as prizes all the time (but I say no because they are a tiny bit expensive to give away one by one!) They are beautifully made and while they seem a little expensive considering how tiny they are, they are high quality and cherished. It’s surprisingly hard to find high quality tiny items. I use them all the time in games whether its to work on lefts, rights, centers, or following directions, or manipulating, putting into “bed” (ice cube trays), putting them into monster cheese etc.
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Zinkies! These are baby squinkies. They are super cute and tiny. Kids love these too.
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/build-links/individual/get-html.html?ie=UTF8&asin=B0085M4UK6&marketplace=amazon
This is an Amazon affiliate link (one for girls one, one for boys one, but there are lots of other ones if you just search for Zinkies on Amazon.com) because frankly I don’t know about the original source, I just found them at a Michael’s. 🙂 I looove my Zinkies. Great for in-hand manipulation skills, imagination, etc etc.
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 3
30
Nov
2012
Adapted Physical Education (APE): Truly Awesome APE activity
Last week an APE teacher brought in a little student she was working with into the learning center to say hi during the girl’s break (so we can all lavish some attention on that sweet girl!), and somehow we brought up nail polish and how it could be a relay (ie run, paint a nail, run back), then we all laughed about it and I forgot about it.
Today, the APE teacher (who is amazing), came walking in with that same student and check out those nails!!! They did the nail polish relay (they got permission from Mom in advance). The little girl was glowing with happiness and happy to show off her nails to all of us!
LOVE it. Now THAT is a great meaningful activity. 🙂
PS/Update: I got a text from the APE teacher with a picture of her own nails – the next week, the little girl got to paint the APE teacher’s nails on the relay, and she was so happy! 🙂
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
28
Nov
2012
IEP meetings: the snarky side
Bummer when I stay up until midnight or later preparing for a meeting that gets canceled at the last minute. I know that’s how the real world works and it’s not always preventable (whether it’s a parent or an educator) but still. 🙂 A little bit of snark makes it more bearable!
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none
27
Nov
2012
"I'm lonely"
This comic from the link above made me laugh/cringe/feel sad all at once. It reminds me sometimes of the social skills we see in some of our children, especially those with proprioceptive awareness issues. They want to have friends, but aren’t always sure how! Luckily most schools are now much more aware of the importance of social skills and pragmatics. 🙂
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none