I listened to the Glass Half Full podcast about the role of OT in an Au-Some Swimmers program, a program providing swimming lessons to kids on the autism spectrum. A group of OT students approached the Au-Some Swimmers program as a community service learning project. Before I started the podcast I had no idea what to expect or how these students were going to incorporate OT into the swimming lessons. I really liked the way they approached their project because when asked what the objectives were they said they didn't really have any to start out with. They interviewed the stakeholders of the program to find out what they were having difficulties with and developed the objectives from there. This reminded me of the process of the occupational profiles we have been doing in class. The OT students quickly learned the volunteer lifeguards were having trouble communicating with each other and the kids. That is when I instantly saw the value of OT in this particular scenario. The OT students recommended some modifications to be more centered around the kids' needs. They created a student log so the lifeguards could keep track of each child's progress if instructors changed with each swim lesson. This allowed the kids to make more progress each visit. The students also incorporated a social element to the swimming lessons. It is empowering to hear about OT students inserting themselves into a situation like this and bettering it for everyone involved including the kids, the lifeguards, and the parents. After hearing about this example, I can see even more how OT can be incorporated in just about any environment even if it does not seem obvious at first. I am eager to learn and develop the problem solving skills to help others overcome challenges like these OT students did.
For my first Neuro Note, I watched a few videos from Lindsey Becker's YouTube channel. Lindsey is a woman with spina bifida and happens to be this year's Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee. She uses a wheelchair in her everyday life, and posts videos on YouTube about how she adapts and modifies her environment to continue living a normal life. The videos I watched included "Home Adaptations," "Wheelchair user Mazda RX-8 with adaptive hand controls," and "PSA for Package Delivery Couriers for Wheelchairs." I chose to watch Lindsey's videos for this assignment because I was just informed she will be coming to UTHSC's campus as a SOTA guest speaker. We also discuss home modifications in class, and I wanted to see what that looked like in an actual home. In the first video, Lindsey walked the audience through all the modifications in her home including two ramps, shower and closet remodels, as well as kitchen remodeling plans. It was eye-opening...
Comments
Post a Comment