Whooie, these are the days of our OT lives…

A lot has been going on in my personal life lately and it's um, to put it mildly, SUCKED. Some of it's in the private personal realm that I won't share here, but the other part I can share, which makes me very sad, is that my grandmother was put on hospice. I hope to be able to use some of my OT tricks to help ease her time left! I am going to go see her Saturday or possibly Sunday. Grandma was my best friend when I was a little girl and I've always been close to her.

Going to work has been tough lately because I've been so sad about her + the other stuff, the teachers have noticed I'm really down. I had a total meltdown on Tuesday, but at recess time in my room so no kids saw me. The kids don't notice because I can be cheery to them, but in the between times I'm just so low/sad until it's time to put on my fake smiley face.

The last week or two I've focused a LOT on lefts/rights (writing it on their hands and mine, then having them lead me turn by turn) as we walk to OT, and then also a LOT on shoe tying, because the shoe tying can be used as an exercise of frustration tolerance, visual spatial skills, following directions, etc. Anybody have any really nice video tutorials or something they enjoy using? I'll have to put up what I am doing soon, it involves using two different colored laces plus some markings on the laces.

I can't remember if i already talked about all that, but it's easier to me to re-write it than to go look back (I write my blog posts in my email program). Today I used some of the things i learned in my primitive reflexes class on Saturday with some kids, and it was not too surprising to see how hard things were for them. For example, lying on their back with their feet in the air, and using their bodies to wiggle to another place using lateral and reciprocating movements. Hard to explain. I need another video. lol.

Using gum continues to be very popular with some of my kids for concentration, as well as theratubing on their chairs.

I'm also starting to do more handwriting of NUMBERS instead of letters. Numbers often get overlooked and there are lots of reversals there.

Plus as I mentioned before I am doing a lot more academic work with the kids, tips and tricks, for their math, science, etc. Also starting to teach kids to use a ruler and draw their own lines when none are given, for kids who struggle with handwriting if no boundaries are given.

I don't really have much else to say right now. Behind as always on OT life with blog comments and emails, am preparing for AOTA conference in Indiana in April as part of a social media presentation (come say hi to me!!!), and am trying to “be kind to myself” by eating healthier and working out with friends/co-workers, as I struggle to get through this trying time.

As always, I conclude this by saying I love OT, rah rah rah, OT is the bomb, yay OT, yay Centennial Vision, OT is an awesome profession, blah blah blah, OT rocks. 🙂 It is forever my passion!

Feb 03, 2012 | Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 2