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Au-Some Swimmers

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.

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