Life of an OT Student

  Upon the creation of my flower garden I fount it might be a good idea to make multiple of these and put in a vase together as its difficult to get the ball to stay up right on its own. I did not have the adequate amount of supplies to do this. Below shows my second intervention which was easily created by cutting slit into the ball. Then the client will open the ball by squeezing it and place the seeds in the tennis ball one at a time using their fine motor skills.

Today our group discussed the neuro-degenerative disease, dementia and how it affected Ronald Reagan after he was diagnosed. Ronald and Nancy Reagan are a love story for the books, and when he was diagnosed in 1994 this was a challenge fit for no better couple. Lauren targeted her goals for OT with Nancy in mind as she was his main caregiver. Individuals with dementia often have interrupted sleep patterns and an OT can implement things to help him regulate his sleep schedule such as changing his environment to make it more comfortable during sleep. Home modifications and a schedule chart will also make Ronald's day smoother as he could look at the board and see what time he is supposed to be doing something or where Nancy is at that time.

The Fundamentals of Caring is a film on Netflix that I chose to watch after going through the list of potential materials looking for another Netflix original to watch, since I enjoyed the other films I watched so much. It also fit that we just had our lecture Monday over muscular dystrophy. The movie is about a kid with Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy and his caregiver, Ben. Trevor is Ben's first client and right away their dark senses of humor mesh and they are the perfect fit for one another. Trevor had never been very outgoing or adventurous, in fact the idea of breaking away from his normal schedule would send him into a panic attack. Trevor had mapped out a bunch of random places he would like to visit such as the "world's biggest cow" and "the world's deepest pit" but had no intentions of ever visiting those places. Ben and Trevor challenged each other's limits and Trevor's mom agreed to let him go on a road trip to these places with Ben...

Bradley Walker is a 39 year old country music singer that was born with a congenital form of muscular dystrophy called congenital myopothy which means he has had this condition since birth. Bradley has been in a wheelchair his entire life so which I feel would be better than being diagnosed with regular muscular dystrophy where you are able to walk and live independently then you slowly lose function in your body before the disease kills you. The life expectancy for someone with muscular dystrophy is very short, whereas Bradley will live a long full life. Audrey made her goals for OT to target muscle fatigue and independent living in his household such as cooking and other ADLs. She also made a goal of his to be able to drive an adaptive vehicle on his own which he is now able to do. Bradley said he has never been sad about the hand he was dealt as he was given the ability to sing and that is freeing to him. He wouldn't trade his voice for a healthy body as he is able to reach peop...

Trey Gray was a drummer for many years for Brooks & Dunn before being diagnosed with Huntington's Disease. Huntington's disease is a degenerative disease that slowly breaks down the mind and body. It is a genetic disease and if a parent has the gene then there is a 50% chance they will pass it to their child, but if the child does not get the activated gene there is no chance for them to pass it to their child. Trey became a spokes person for Huntington's Disease Society of America to help people try to associate a face with the disease to raise awareness. After diagnosis Trey still played drums for a while before settling down in Nashville and wanting to focus on his role as a father. With occupational therapy the main goal will be to maintain functioning for as long as possible and to teach adaptive techniques to deal with the symptoms of the disease. I would imagine caregiver education would also be a role for the OT.

Today we had a final debriefing of probably the most important course we have taken in our first term of occupational therapy school. The reason I found this class to be so important was it really built our foundation of our knowledge of what OT is, and the process that goes into working effectively with clients in various settings no matter their disability or background. Starting OT school you think you have a good idea of what OT is and what they do, and you probably do. However, the profession is so much more broad than you can ever imagine and the possibilities are endless. We learned all about the OT process from the time you initially meet your client, to implementation planning, until you discharge them hopefully more independent than when they were referred to OT. Although these past couple of weeks have been so overwhelming and stressful, I feel now more than ever that I am where I am meant to be.

Trans Fatty lives is a documentary on netflix following Patrick Sean O'brien through his personal journey of living with ALS. I chose to watch this documentary after the ALS lecture in class and spoke to a few classmates that had watched it. This documentary interestingly enough was done by Patrick himself with the help of a crew and some editors. Although he lost control and function of his body his mind was still brilliant, and this film portrays just that. It was tough seeing some of the struggles that Patrick and his family faced but Patrick didn't let the disease get him down. He described ALS perfectly when he said it's like someone unplugged my brain from my body. Throughout the film you can see the decline in his physical abilities and eventually his body just seems to be an extension of his head with not much of a purpose. The film also shows us how Patrick was able to get his girlfriend pregnant despite his disability and how he admired and loved to watch his son...

My case study was over Rowdy Gaines, an Olympic gold medalist who at the age of 31 was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome just a week after swimming in a benefit swim meet over 3000 meters. He was suddenly unable to walk much less be the champion swimmer he was so used to being. He was hospitalized for 2.5 months before beginning therapy and his prior peak physical condition made his recovery much quicker than many others with this condition. Within a year Rowdy was back to performing all ADLs independently and swimming daily in the pool to build back strength. Rowdy qualified for the Olympics in 1996 at age 35, the oldest that year to qualify. However, Rowdy's family was extremely important to him and he turned down the opportunity and instead began working for NBC as an analyst during the Olympic games.

Yesterday we took our final for our foundations of occupational therapy class, and it feels good to be nearing the end of my first term of occupational therapy school. This class has done exactly what the course title describes and has given me a strong foundation of what occupational therapy is, what populations they work with, and the basics of the profession. Over the course of a few months we have learned about documentation, clinical reasoning, code of ethics, therapeutic relationships, and many other helpful tools that will guide us through the rest of our time at UTHSC. I am looking forward to branching this knowledge through learning the lifespan starting with pediatrics in July.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is commonly known as Lou Gherig's disease in the United States as he was one of the first well known Americans to be diagnosed with this condition. Lou started to notice the disease after his performance playing baseball started to drop significantly because he was losing strength quickly and even would bench himself for games. During this time the profession we love so much was just a baby and he probably didn't receive therapy however he did receive treatment at the Mayo clinic. After being diagnosed the doctors predicted he had 3 years to live and he lived 3 years before dying at they age of 38. Today the average life expectancy of someone diagnosed with ALS is 2-5 years, so in the past 100 years we still have not made very many advances in this field.

It is important to discuss the significance of the therapeutic relationship between the occupational therapy practitioner and the client they are working with because it plays a significant role in the progress a client can make during therapy. I believe the most important thing in establishing this relationship is following through with what you say you are going to do, not making false promises, and use active listening techniques which will all ultimately lead the client to trust the practitioner. If the client trust the practitioner in what they are doing they are more likely to push themselves to further limits which will ultimately lead to a better outcome for the patient if they fully delve into therapy. Every client deserves respect from their practitioner as most of the people we work with are probably not ecstatic about their situation and we should do everything possible to make them feel important and comfortable.

So today, my boyfriend and I were having one of our various political discussion/argument and he says to me, "You're just a liberal in a hardworker's body". It brought me back to our class discussion we had on May 4 about cultural competence, stereotypes, racism etc. By saying that to me he was pointing to the conclusion that all liberal's are actually lazy, a stereotype made by many people on the conservative side of things. I like to think that I am the type of person that sees the bigger picture and just sees everyone as unique, equally important human beings. Brandan however, has been in and out of the army and has a more straight forward perspective to life and if life strays anywhere off the path of "norm" its a little more difficult for him to accept that. As occupational therapist I feel like we are taught from the beginning that nothing in life is "normal" and we find the beauty in that. We are given the opportunity to see everyone fr...

On April 26th, we had a guest speaker join us named Fletcher Cleaves who was living independently with a cervical spinal cord injury. Fletcher grew up with a love of football and that's where he put all of his hard work, dedication, and passion. Finally a young Fletcher received a scholarship to play football at Lambuth University. However, all of Fletcher's training could not have prepared him for the night a texting driver would run him of the road leading to the crash that would change his life and take his ability to walk. Several years later I meet Fletcher during my time in occupational therapy school and I see this man in front of me with a huge personality and even bigger sense of humor. He educated us on his injury and gave us a look into what a day would look like for a person with his level spinal cord injury. Fletcher also made a really incredible point when he was discussing the difficulty he had finding a wheel chair accessible apartment and I feel that is somet...

I first learned about this certification when we were watching a video in our Neuro OT 537 class about traumatic brain injuries (TBI). This certification would give me a better understanding and knowledge about brain injuries if I plan to work with this population regularly. The certification requires 500 hours of direct contact experience with individuals with brain injury and a completion of training or self study. To sit for the exam to become certified would cost $300 and if you pass it would be a $60 annual fee to keep your certification. If you pass you would be a part of the Academy of Certified Brain Injury Specialists. This is something that I feel would be a good fit with my interest in working in the neuro-field. Relating this certification back to AOTA's 2025 vision, I feel that this certification would help a practitioner more effectively treat a brain injury client to maximize their rehabilitation. Although some clients will return back to normal functioning in thei...

It was interesting to learn about Parkinson's Disease from someone who has a first hand experience with it. The OT's role in working with a client with PD is to prolong functioning for as long as possible as it will eventually break down the body and make life very difficult for the individual. Bob loved his family and had hobbies he really enjoyed such as fishing and gambling which lead the therapist to making goals for his therapy. Sarah mentioned that Bob worked at a paint store with a lot of strong chemicals and a few other men Bob worked with actually developed PD as well and it makes you wonder if there is a connection.