Random Occupational therapy Tidbits….
1) http://www.theappacademy.org/ iPad and autism. Check it out if you're a school OT working with autistic kids and have access to iPads. In our district, EVERY teacher and speech therapist got ipads except the OTs and Adapted PE. Sad. No bitterness. Except the cloying taste of almonds…..jk
2) I got some seamless socks to sample. Keep in mind if you're one of those people with kids who can not STAND seams….a lot of websites now exist to help you with that problem. Obviously it's more expensive than Wal-Mart, but at least a solution exists. Note: I was over 18 before I went to Wal-mart for the first time. It was not part of my childhood experience. But I spent a lot of time there in Tennessee and Georgia, lolol. People of walmart dot com? So true. Go at like eleven at night for the “best” experience 🙂 I shouldn't drink haterade though, they are the ONLY place that has my beloved rectangular firm corkboards….
3) My stray cat has found his voice. His name is Stray Cat because he is a stray. But we've been feeding him for about 5 years and he regularly sleeps on my bed, so, well, I dunno. But anyway, he has started Meowing. It's driving me nuts. I prefer mute animals. Last night, I was up at LEAST five times between midnight and 6am with these two cats (Stray Cat and Black Cat – who is my 20 year old fragile cat). Meowing, or opening doors, or checking on them, etc etc. Guess I know what it's like to have to wake up a lot for a baby……speaking of which I just heard a meow and it's our NEWEST stray cat, White Cat, peeking his head in my bedroom to eat their dry cat food. Oh, and the racoons eat it. And the black crows. Fun times. That wasn't an OT tidbit, but I'm an OT dictator, so you have no choice but to bear it. Sorry.
4) Today we had an incident and a cop was in the principal's office – I could see him through the window taking notes and my first comment was “He has a pretty good pencil grip”. I love when parents complain about their child's handwriting and/or grip in the IEP meeting, then I watch them sign the IEP sign-in and their grip and HW is horrendous. THE APPLE DOES NOT FALL FAR FROM THE TREE!!!! That is of course not always true. But sometimes when I meet parents I am like “ohhhhhhhh”. Then suddenly a lot more things make sense. I really enjoy meeting the parents. I'm super big on regular communication with parents.
5) I'm still in paperwork hell. I got through two annual IEPs today – 3 more annuals, 3 triennials, and 3 initials to go in the next 11 days of work. Not to mention treatment and evaluations for those triennials and initials.
6) For those of you who are not into school or pediatric OT….if you hit around BEFORE march 2009, in that 9 months before, I had three three-month rotations. First in outpatient pediatric clinic in semi-rural Mississippi which included home visits and satellite expansion, then an acute care hospital, and finally a locked geriatric psych ward. Fun times, I tell ya. So you might find stories from back then.
7) A lot of the OT students who started following me years ago…are now OTs themselves. Super fun to watch their journey!! Love it!!
8) I have lots of OT paperwork to get done before June 8th….but I will have several days without a car, stranded in an empty house, in Alabama, after June 8th, where I plan to go through my emails etc from the blog.
9) I'll stop now. Although as soon as I stop I'll remember something else to say.