I gotta tell y'all, I am woorrrrrnnn out. I have been working all day, coming home, doing a few chores (ie shower, commute, fix lunch for next day), and otherwise pretty much working all night until midnight or, like Monday night, until 2 am. It's IEP season in the schools so things are crazy! Seeing as how this is only my second week alone in this new job, I'm having to work hard to keep up with all the paperwork. But everyone I work with is phenomenal and supportive and it's going to be okay. Don't be freaked out by how much I work, I'm sure half of it is unnecessary, but it helps me feel more in control. I don't work well under stress so having the day planned out helps. Of course things change (ie I discover a kid is on a field trip) but at least I have a skeleton in place. I just need to get used to how things work (and figure out how to better organize things). I need to invent a better OT cart to carry around - I got the foldable box one from Office Depot. Not impressed. And it's not big enough either, haha. I haven't searched online to see if they have any like hardcore OT rollies that are like double deckers. I would probably be willing to pay a lot of money for a really good one, I carry this sucker around nonstop and it's about to die after only a few weeks.
I am going to try hard to do a picture post this weekend of a lot of the stuff I am using/carrying around with me. I tried to do a picture post the other night as I went through all my own personal K-4 papers of childhood, but Picasa misbehaved :( Apparently I used to spell my name backwards, ie starting with the N, e, r, a, K. And look at me, I turned out okay (don't comment)! So maybe my reversals kids will be alright too. :)
Okay so....now that I've done a brief update to say I AM REALLY CRAZY BUSY...I am really crazy busy and therefore really crazy to be blogging right now. I need to prep for tomorrow! Starting...NOW!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Copying from the board, exerting too much pressure writing...OT ideas please
Needing ideas for...
A) Child using too much pressure when writing (ie thick dark lines; fatigues easily from the effort of pressing so hard)
B) Giving a 15-minute or so lesson to an entire 1st grade class on copying from the board.
Have got a few ideas that I will share at some point soon, but would love to hear from my readers in the meantime. Going to do a quick Google search now (my brain is fried for the night...proof: I spelled that brian), and then go to bed...my goal was ridiculously early and it's already an hour past that....
A) Child using too much pressure when writing (ie thick dark lines; fatigues easily from the effort of pressing so hard)
B) Giving a 15-minute or so lesson to an entire 1st grade class on copying from the board.
Have got a few ideas that I will share at some point soon, but would love to hear from my readers in the meantime. Going to do a quick Google search now (my brain is fried for the night...proof: I spelled that brian), and then go to bed...my goal was ridiculously early and it's already an hour past that....
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Sooo many decisions to make for OT playtime :)
I bought a Staples "Easy" button this weekend so kids could hit the "That was easy!" button after completing a task. :) I also bought stuff in Staples dollar section, like foam alphabet and a foam elephant puzzle. And a bizarre, long twisted eraser. And some gum since some of the kids attend better with it. And some creepy bugs. And then I'm going through old stuff, I found an old magic kit that I am pondering, plus an old road trip book for kids that I might steal some ideas from (like doing the cats cradle or whatever its called, in your hands)....and I have Animalia, and an adult coloring book for some of the more advanced kids....and some poms to use with Zoo sticks....etc etc. And a $1 Pilates ring I got at Target years ago that I use to have the kids put their entire body into and then out, somewhat like putting on/off clothes. (IE put over head, wiggle over body and down to feet, step out of it, then step back in and go bottom-top.) You can also use a tied in a circle theraband to do the same thing.
I need to take pictures of my OT stash which is accumulating daily and share more of it. Or maybe make another video - my last one about my pediatric toolbox is like...3 years old. Unfortunately I think I've spent more on OT toys lately than I've actually made in salary, haha. Most of it is from the dollar store or dollar sections, but it adds up quickly. :) And then I have a lot in my old craft bins I'm grabbing. It's a little overwhelming actually. Too much of a good thing, in a way. I need to figure out just what I want for tommorrow's kids and not go crazy figuring out the rest! :) One day at a time.
I also printed out a bunch of Tonya's TherapyFunZone stuff, like animal shapes and cootie catchers!! (I totally wrote cootchie by accident....that would be inappropriate).
One thing I'd love some feedback on is BEHAVIOR strategies. Like if I have a elementary school aged child who avoids cutting, drawing, writing, etc, how do I encourage them to do it? I am guessing people will say to avoid it for the most part as well and focus on underlying skills that are deficient and causing the difficulties. Or say use rewards. I just read an article on kidsatthought.com about how using reward systems is ultimately not helpful long-term. I think for a while, as the kids get used to me, since I'm new to this job, I will try to focus a little more on fun stuff so they grow to like me...then once they like me and think they're gonna have fun, I bring out the hard stuff and show them how wrong they were. :) KIDDING - I'm very big on making OT fun for them. Magical. But that takes a lot of hard work. So. I'm working on it. And I can't work on it if I am blogging. So. Off to go print stuff and go through my big ol' toolbox to figure out tommorow's games!
One wise OT (Orli I think?) once told me I could use the same activity in a given day with each kid, but modify it accordingly. IE a day where the children make spiders - it could be made easy or hard depending on how much cutting, gluing, coloring, writing about it, etc....and obviously based on what the child is working on in OT. So a kindergardener and 5th grader could do it at varying levels of difficulty and be working on completely different things. (IE one child is doing it for sequencing, another for fine motor). I liked that idea. I wouldn't do it all the time, but I could see how occasionally it would work well. Especially on theme days, like near Halloween.
Notice how I said I was off to do something then wrote another whole paragraph. Not cool, Karen. Okay this time I mean it. :)
I need to take pictures of my OT stash which is accumulating daily and share more of it. Or maybe make another video - my last one about my pediatric toolbox is like...3 years old. Unfortunately I think I've spent more on OT toys lately than I've actually made in salary, haha. Most of it is from the dollar store or dollar sections, but it adds up quickly. :) And then I have a lot in my old craft bins I'm grabbing. It's a little overwhelming actually. Too much of a good thing, in a way. I need to figure out just what I want for tommorrow's kids and not go crazy figuring out the rest! :) One day at a time.
I also printed out a bunch of Tonya's TherapyFunZone stuff, like animal shapes and cootie catchers!! (I totally wrote cootchie by accident....that would be inappropriate).
One thing I'd love some feedback on is BEHAVIOR strategies. Like if I have a elementary school aged child who avoids cutting, drawing, writing, etc, how do I encourage them to do it? I am guessing people will say to avoid it for the most part as well and focus on underlying skills that are deficient and causing the difficulties. Or say use rewards. I just read an article on kidsatthought.com about how using reward systems is ultimately not helpful long-term. I think for a while, as the kids get used to me, since I'm new to this job, I will try to focus a little more on fun stuff so they grow to like me...then once they like me and think they're gonna have fun, I bring out the hard stuff and show them how wrong they were. :) KIDDING - I'm very big on making OT fun for them. Magical. But that takes a lot of hard work. So. I'm working on it. And I can't work on it if I am blogging. So. Off to go print stuff and go through my big ol' toolbox to figure out tommorow's games!
One wise OT (Orli I think?) once told me I could use the same activity in a given day with each kid, but modify it accordingly. IE a day where the children make spiders - it could be made easy or hard depending on how much cutting, gluing, coloring, writing about it, etc....and obviously based on what the child is working on in OT. So a kindergardener and 5th grader could do it at varying levels of difficulty and be working on completely different things. (IE one child is doing it for sequencing, another for fine motor). I liked that idea. I wouldn't do it all the time, but I could see how occasionally it would work well. Especially on theme days, like near Halloween.
Notice how I said I was off to do something then wrote another whole paragraph. Not cool, Karen. Okay this time I mean it. :)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Treating Private Patients in OT
Jena Casbon contacted me about writing this article - I think it's interesting. I hadn't thought about taking a private patient or two on the side. And I probably wouldn't do it any time soon since I don't have enough years of experience. But it's something to think about for the future. :) PS I have no idea how it works from a billing standpoint!
Treating Private Patients: A Great Opportunity for OT’s
Treating Private Patients: A Great Opportunity for OT’s
Experiences During School Will Prepare You For...
It never ceases to amaze me how rich and diverse the field of Occupational Therapy is. Many incoming and early graduate students tend to think of our field in terms of:
- age range (mostly in terms of "kids or adults")
- specific impairments such as arm and hand dysfunction, sensory integration, dementia, vision impairments, driving safety, or ADL’s
- areas of practice such as physical health, mental health and community
- treatment settings such as pediatrics, rehabilitation in hospitals, home health, private clinics, work hardening
Throughout your undergraduate/graduate coursework and clinical placements, you will gain exposure to a wide variety of age groups, disorders and practice locations. These experiences will help build your clinical skills, while molding yourself into a competent clinician.
Your Early Career
The first year after graduating from your OT graduate program is a both stressful and liberating time in your career. In many ways, you are on your own now: able to work on the areas where you feel your patient needs the most help. This degree of autonomy can be scary for many new grads, but hopefully your supervisor, colleagues or former graduate school classmates can support and encourage your clinical decision making.
During the first few years of your career as an Occupational Therapist you will continue to learn so much about disorders, how patients can present differently, how to manage patients and family dynamics, etc. At this stage you will likely begin to gravitate to a specific age group, diagnosis, etc. I urge you to take as many continuing education courses (CEU's) as you can as you build your expertise. You may even opt to change jobs or settings in order to gain more exposure to different aspects of our field. All of these things will help you to grow and provide excellent care for your patients.
I Wonder If I Could Ever Have A Private Practice...?
Almost every OT friend of mine started out dreaming one day of having a private practice- but as they got into the field more and more, the safety of a regular job with consistent pay won out over the risk of going out on their own. To be honest, starting a private practice has a lot of extra work, extra responsibilities and headaches- but the trade off of high-income and more autonomy is very alluring for some people.
Private Patients: A Great Way to Start
Most of us got into this field because we love to help people, not because we wanted to make money. As time goes by though, the reality of car or house payments, wanting to have extra income for our families, vacations, etc. starts to hit and we become frustrated with our regular pay. Another benefit to private patients is flexibility of your schedule and also getting to treat ideal patients. Treating privately is a great way to help more people while making more money by seeing one to several private patients on the side.
How Does Private Therapy Work?
At some point, you will know colleagues that are treating private patients and a patient or family member will ask if you can provide private treatment. Private occupational therapy is often requested as a way to deal with:
- to provide consistent therapy during gaps over the summer for school-aged children
- to supplement therapy already being received (kids or adults)
- to continue therapy if insurance won't continue to pay for services (kids or adults)
Most private therapy occurs in the patients' home and OT's are paid either through cash/check or reimbursed through an insurance company. Therapists need to have their own liability insurance, document their treatment, market their services to obtain more clients and pay taxes on this extra income. Most therapists charge between $75-$125/hour for their services.
Is Private Therapy Right For You?
I recommend that you have at least 2-3 years experience as an OT before you begin treating privately. You need to build up your expertise in a diagnosis or treatment technique so that your services are truly valuable to your private patients. Because you'll be doing this on your own, you need to develop a level of confidence about both your clinical and business skills before you start. Starting to see private patients is almost like your first year of practicing all over again. Once you have some practice and experience, you'll feel much stronger. Some clinicians start with private patients and then graduate to starting their own free-standing private practice- others keep their regular job and see private patients on the side.
I hope this has helped open your mind to yet another really cool aspect of the field of Occupational Therapy!
______________________________
Jena H. Casbon, MS CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist and founder of The Independent Clinician. After graduating from Emerson College in 2005, she has worked with adult outpatients in a rehabilitation hospital and inpatients in a skilled nursing facility. Three years into practicing as an SLP, she began treating private patients- but the lack of a "how-to guide" bothered her, so she wrote one.
Follow Jena on Twitter @IndClinician and Facebook http://www.facebook.
Be sure to visit http://www.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Blogging blizzard complete
I am sorry if your eyeballs have popped out of your head after like fifty thousand new blog posts. I got through literally hundreds of e-mails. Again, at expenses of taxes, cough. So when the IRS comes knocking at my door, I blame y'all. :)
I finally realized what I should have done - is save them all as drafts and then post like, one a day, rather than posting five thousand at once. I didn't realize this until late in in the process. So now I have like six saved to do over the next few days/weeks as I remember....I don't know how to automatically post them regularly at a certain time, with blogger.com. Dunno if it's possible. Don't care enough to find out.
I look forward to all y'all's comments!! One thing about catching up on e-mail/blogging is that then you get this whole new deluge of comments/e-mails. A vicious cycle. BUT I LOVE THEM SO PLEASE E-MAIL/COMMENT YOUR HEART OUT. I'm just slow to respond!
So it took me about two hours to do this blog blizzard - my cat is bored. That says a lot. Good night.
I finally realized what I should have done - is save them all as drafts and then post like, one a day, rather than posting five thousand at once. I didn't realize this until late in in the process. So now I have like six saved to do over the next few days/weeks as I remember....I don't know how to automatically post them regularly at a certain time, with blogger.com. Dunno if it's possible. Don't care enough to find out.
I look forward to all y'all's comments!! One thing about catching up on e-mail/blogging is that then you get this whole new deluge of comments/e-mails. A vicious cycle. BUT I LOVE THEM SO PLEASE E-MAIL/COMMENT YOUR HEART OUT. I'm just slow to respond!
So it took me about two hours to do this blog blizzard - my cat is bored. That says a lot. Good night.
Matthew, a UK OT asks about Fieldwork placement...
Matthew asks:
Not sure if this is appropriate to ask for input from your readers as I don't know if you have many from the UK but we are looking to offer an internship / placement opportunity to prospective OT students and would love to get any feedback around what would be the most helpful way of structuring this to make sure we give the students the most benefit:
http://www.inclusion.me.uk/blog/want-to-work-with-us-want-to-become-an-ot-or-get-back-to-being-an-ot-after-some-time-out-get-in-touch/
Any feedback from your readers would be fabulous and well done once again and hope it all goes well.
Matthew
Not sure if this is appropriate to ask for input from your readers as I don't know if you have many from the UK but we are looking to offer an internship / placement opportunity to prospective OT students and would love to get any feedback around what would be the most helpful way of structuring this to make sure we give the students the most benefit:
http://www.inclusion.me.uk/
Any feedback from your readers would be fabulous and well done once again and hope it all goes well.
Matthew
Tips to Incoming OT Students? Anything to add?
I was asked recently (by an enthusiastic Klaudia) if I had any updates to my "Tips to Incoming MOT Students", seeing as how I wrote that in month into OT school and now I've been out for several years. http://otstudents.blogspot.com/2007/04/tips-to-incoming-mot-students.html, and so I re-read it and decided....that first of all, wow, I wrote that in April of 2007, so this is five years later, zomg. :) I feel crazy old. But you know what? All those tips are still true. I don't think I have any new ones to add - the ones about being flexible and remembering the OT world is small (so watch the gossip) are probably the most valid. Anybody else have thoughts on the matter? New ones to add?
Updated my sidebar with new (to me) OT blogs
Tink who is about to become an OT student, http://tink343-unistudentlife.blogspot.com/
I recommend using Google Reader or some other RSS reader so that you know when new posts come in, all in one spot, rather than having to go check each blog individually. I love Google Reader. :)
Nurse in Haiti
My cousin is a nurse who recently went to Haiti to help out for a week. She wrote us two mails - here is one and hopefully I will find the other one. I also know an OT friend who went to Haiti a few months after the earthquake and I am hoping she will share some of her experiences here! I just asked her. :) I know this is an OT blog and not a nursing one, but hey, it's healthcare, so good to see the perspective!
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Update:
No way I can even BEGIN to describe it here but, on a quick break so, little update.
First of all, wow! This experience is a real exercise in patience. For example, I'm hungry. We get 2 meals a day, 10am and 4hours later, 2pm (mind you, I am working nights so the food comes while I am sleeping). Luckily, I had found a stash of granola bars etc. in the fridge, which, was like gold. Then today, I went back, and the whole bag was gone. My heart dropped. Lying in bed, I was agonizing over the stolen power bars, "Why didn't I steal them first!?" I have never been in a place where there is no option for more food. So, I was lying there, trying to fall asleep, literlly unable to get the damn hyjacked granola bars off of my mind when I realized... what is really keeping me from falling alsleep? Am I really that hungry. When I focused more on the sensation of hunger, I realized, its not that bad... it was the frustration and loss of security of knowing that there is backup food that was really bothring me. So now, Im better... 2 meals a day is more than most people here get. I am definitely not starving. So, se la vie.
Many other things are difficult. It's cold (the americans I room with insist on air conditioning the room). I don't have a towel. Don't have lots of things... but, Ive adjusted...
I am working nights, 6pm-6am. Haiti is a total mess. When we arrived, people were hanging on the fences, clawing through the holes, yelling... Our haitian escorts rushed us through the crowds, jammed us into the back of a van, and swept us away. We are not allowed to leave the hospital compound... absolutely forbidden. And from the looks of the people comming through the ED, I understand why. lots of stab wounds, gashes, broken bones, etc.... Not even a local will walk home alone at night. I feel like I am working in a refugee camp. I have never before been somewhere so isolated... with no peek, other than the injured patients, at what lies outside the walls of this compound.
We arrived Sat around 10am, had orientation, slept a few hours and started working that night at 6. Luckily, I am here with a coworker, "T", and we were placed on the same shift. We literally jumped in. The "med surge" beds,"ëmergency room" and "icu" are all connected so, we work where we are needed. Last night, when the stab victim came in, I was on one arm starting an IV, another nurse on the other, and a 3rd woman priming bags of normal salined to start pumping fluids back into her. Everyone here works togeter... there is no doctor this, nurse that.... if a job needs to be done, you figure it out, and do it. Period. We don't know where anythings is, the supplies are noexistent or different, but, you do what you can do. I have started reusing gloves because we are running out. There is not even a sink to was your hands in. No soap. All the beds are in one small room, the family members stay close by and feed, toilet, and clean their loved ones. People, when they can, pee on a bucket on the floor.
I signed up to donate blood. That will be the one time I will get to get out of this joint and see what is going on behind these walls. There is no blood here. At home, we transfuse at a hemoglobin of 7, sometimes even 10. A woman came in today with a hemoglobin of 2! I didn't even know that was possible.
We will be working all 7 days. We sleep in bunk beds (there are 7 night nurses in one room) outside of the emergency room. I can not even put this experience into words quickly enough (I have to get back, I am on shift right now) but, let me say....
I don't know how I waited 29 years to do something like this. I am reconsidering my entire life plan and trying to figure out if it is possible to work internationally while being a mother. I have never in my life had such a humbling experience. I have never seen people that love their families so much. THIS is medicine. THIS is healthcare. There are no rules in place that dumb down the decisions you make or the actions you take. You look, listen, assess, and treat.
One of my patient's today is a 15 year old boy who was hit by a car, thrown up into the air, and broke his femur when he landed back on the top of the car.... I can't speak with him but, I wish I could. I wish I could comfort him more, give him a game to play with.... I considered bringing out my ipod but then realized it would likely create more drama that happiness. He is so stoic.
It's probablly 90 degrees here and we have no cups. We give patients water 30cc's at a time (less than a shot glass).
I could go on and on and I have only been here 1...2? days (nights is so disorienting).
All I know is,
this is life.
It kinda sucks (soap and a towel would be nice considering the blood I am stepping in) but, it's so invigorationg to feel like I am actually doing something with my life.
p.s. sorry for all the typos, super rushed,
xox
The classic, "perspective" we get when we leave our cushy lives.
Anwyas, internet here is spordic (there is one sometimes functioning laptop for all of us), but, Im here, safe, and happy.
SpongeBob washing + OT month in Times Square!
Basically I am going through months of mail including newsletters, emails from former co-workers, blog comments, e-mails, etc, hence the massive posts right now as I try to clear through the mailbox - I still have 76 new mails + over a 1,000 to go through. :( Anyway, two random bits
1) During this month (OT MONTH! APRIL IS OT MONTH!), Times Square in NYC is running an advertisement for OT EVERY HOUR! That is CRAZY! Have any of you seen this? :) Definitely high-def.
2) A former-coworker/supervisor/physical therapist wrote me to tell me that one of my OT ideas is still a hit for the child to do while in PT! I got a turkey baster from the dollar store, filled a bin with water, and then the child "washes" SpongeBob using the turkey baster - I had a SpongeBob PotatoHead that likes to be washed! I left him in my former clinic because he was so popular. Anyway - so - idea - have the child use a turkey baster to "wash" their favorite toy. It works on the child's hand strength and a little on sequencing - so it can be an OT tool by itself, or it can turn into a PT tool if the child is using it as an engrossing activity while working on standing/kneeling/whatever! :)
1) During this month (OT MONTH! APRIL IS OT MONTH!), Times Square in NYC is running an advertisement for OT EVERY HOUR! That is CRAZY! Have any of you seen this? :) Definitely high-def.
2) A former-coworker/supervisor/physical therapist wrote me to tell me that one of my OT ideas is still a hit for the child to do while in PT! I got a turkey baster from the dollar store, filled a bin with water, and then the child "washes" SpongeBob using the turkey baster - I had a SpongeBob PotatoHead that likes to be washed! I left him in my former clinic because he was so popular. Anyway - so - idea - have the child use a turkey baster to "wash" their favorite toy. It works on the child's hand strength and a little on sequencing - so it can be an OT tool by itself, or it can turn into a PT tool if the child is using it as an engrossing activity while working on standing/kneeling/whatever! :)
I love OT, yes I do.....
I love this!
One of my blog readers/now Facebook friends/current OT student/current OT student blogger, who I will label "M", wrote me to let me know one of her classmates found my blog by googling "I love OT". And then that classmate discovered through my sidebar that "M" had a blog too! Small world. I LOVE that my blog was found by googling "I love OT". And I love that M's classmate googled that in the first place. :)
Hey, speaking of loving OT....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJRIVUOtCzs this was our Miss OTPF pageant from 2008, one of our silly OT contestants was a cheerleader who cheers about OT spirit. :)
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DJRIVUOtCzs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
One of my blog readers/now Facebook friends/current OT student/current OT student blogger, who I will label "M", wrote me to let me know one of her classmates found my blog by googling "I love OT". And then that classmate discovered through my sidebar that "M" had a blog too! Small world. I LOVE that my blog was found by googling "I love OT". And I love that M's classmate googled that in the first place. :)
Hey, speaking of loving OT....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJRIVUOtCzs this was our Miss OTPF pageant from 2008, one of our silly OT contestants was a cheerleader who cheers about OT spirit. :)
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DJRIVUOtCzs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Fun & Function - SPD blogger network
Can y'all tell I am on a blogging blizzard tonight? At the expense of my taxes of course. But I have felt really guilty about getting so behind on responding to blog reader e-mail/comments etc, and I am finally opening up months worths of newsletters. Fun & Function has a good newsletter and Facebook page and I just learned about the SPD blogger network through them. http://www.spdbloggernetwork.com/about/
Check it out and also check out Fun & Function (google it!). :) It will be helpful for OT/OT students alike.
Check it out and also check out Fun & Function (google it!). :) It will be helpful for OT/OT students alike.
Tips from a school OT :)
I am copy/pasting tips from an e-mail I got recently from a school OT I will name "L"! Great ideas/thoughts that she gave, as always use at your own risk!
One of the things I have been loving lately are mechanical pencils. They are wonderful tools for those students who push too hard on their pencil or their pencil is never sharp. Some teachers only allow sharpening 3 pencils at the beginning of the day and then that is it. Unfortunately, the students I see need sharp pencils! This also isn't as nice to chew on as wood pencils-although if there is a will there is a way!
I also use the rubber tubing at the top of pencils for a chewy section. I used to glue them in when they didn't seem to fit right, however I found just wrapping the pencil with tape can provide enough diameter to make the chewy part stay put.
I love adapted paper and carry it with me practically everywhere. I keep it in a binder tucked in sheet protectors and refill when I am in the office. I also put screening tools in there and freebies off of the HWT website-like the sheet that tells how to form all the letters appropriately.
Planning and scheduling can be very difficult-I work in small school districts so I hit one school district Monday through Thursday. At the beginning of the year I set up a schedule for the students on IEP's and try to work around activities as much as possible. What is difficult is I think in days of the week, so when it is Tuesday and I forgot something on Monday, I am not going to remember it until next Monday-probably when I am already at the school. I just purchased a Samsung Galaxy S and am using for my calendar and notes and whatnot. I still have a hard planner and write things down in there as well.
One of the things I have been loving lately are mechanical pencils. They are wonderful tools for those students who push too hard on their pencil or their pencil is never sharp. Some teachers only allow sharpening 3 pencils at the beginning of the day and then that is it. Unfortunately, the students I see need sharp pencils! This also isn't as nice to chew on as wood pencils-although if there is a will there is a way!
I also use the rubber tubing at the top of pencils for a chewy section. I used to glue them in when they didn't seem to fit right, however I found just wrapping the pencil with tape can provide enough diameter to make the chewy part stay put.
I love adapted paper and carry it with me practically everywhere. I keep it in a binder tucked in sheet protectors and refill when I am in the office. I also put screening tools in there and freebies off of the HWT website-like the sheet that tells how to form all the letters appropriately.
Planning and scheduling can be very difficult-I work in small school districts so I hit one school district Monday through Thursday. At the beginning of the year I set up a schedule for the students on IEP's and try to work around activities as much as possible. What is difficult is I think in days of the week, so when it is Tuesday and I forgot something on Monday, I am not going to remember it until next Monday-probably when I am already at the school. I just purchased a Samsung Galaxy S and am using for my calendar and notes and whatnot. I still have a hard planner and write things down in there as well.
Will I ever be good enough? OT student fears + fieldwork gift ideas?
Okay, I got this letter from a sweet OT student who is clearly going to be JUST FINE. :) So my answer is on top, her e-mail is on bottom. She gave me permission to post as I removed identifying information.
Regarding OT fieldwork presents: I would be interested to know more about what is normal, from my blog readers. It seems like a lot of students get their educators something at the end of fieldwork (something reasonable). What have you all given as presents historically, and/or do you find it appropriate? I know I bought some OT toys for a pediatric fieldwork (but at my goodbye party they bought me some awesome pediatric toys too!!), exchanged silly creative poems with another fieldwork educator (we are both dorks, what can I say), and um, I don't really remember for my mental health one. I don't think - or okay, I know, I didn't buy any of them gift cards or anything, but maybe I should have. Apparently a lot of students do. Ideas? I think buying or making items for the clinic (small things!!) that you know they will use/be appreciated, is always a winner....plus a thoughtfully written card for the supervisor. But who are we kidding I am sure they all love gift cards. :)
Regarding the fear of not being good enough yet, or that you'll never be good enough: ASKING THAT QUESTION MEANS YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH. :) if you have a healthy respect (sometimes fear) of what you don't know, you will always strive to learn more - with continuing education, reaching out to mentors, etc. It means you are far above most people/therapists and that you clearly show the compassion/concern/desire for growth that makes you an excellent clinician. It's true, your skills aren't perfect yet -and won't be for a long time. But with each day you will learn new things and slowly you will see the growth you want. Having a good mentor - or multiple mentors - is huge. Reach out to people you admire in the field. Talk to your co-workers. Read books written by people with the diagnoses you treat. Read community forums for those people. Put yourself in their shoes. Practice with your cooperative friends. Observe people in the supermarket. I promise you, these skills that seem so elusive, will eventually come. Just keep working at them and realize you are doing your best. Also, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. There are things that you as a new practitioner bring to the table that an experienced practitioner can't - such as fresh eyes, recent education, a (hopefully) still unjaded attitude, a creativity for "out of the box" ideas that mostly comes from not knowing any better/different, and then your own therapeutic value. You may have more compassion, more kindness, more creativity, who knows. A lot of times patients are helped just by having someone there who cares. Realize that half the battle - if not more - is just having the patient feel that sense of value/connection with you. So have faith in yourself. Believe in yourself. Know that as long as you ALWAYS know - even twenty years from now - that you don't know everything and that's okay. Know that we are in a profession that thrives on constant growth and development, and NONE of us, not even the AOTA president or your most revered OT mentor, know it all. There will be periods you feel great about your growth, periods where you are depressed about what you don't know, and periods where you don't care or think you are doing fine. It will all balance out. Just keep growing the way you are now and you will be fine.
PS: I guarantee you will do things in your first year (or years) where you will look back and go WHAT WAS I THINKING OH MY GOSH. Or "I'm such a fraud. They like me and think I am doing a good job but I have no idea what I'm doing." That's okay. Everyone feels like a fraud. Everyone has those movements of retrospection where they realize what all they didn't know. Just keep working to improve your skills, realize you don't know what you don't know, but as long as you follow the mantra of "Do no harm", you'll be okay, and you'll survive those moments of WHAT WAS I DOING?! :)
=======================
Hi Karen,
I am a fourth year OT student at the University of EDITED, currently on my level II Fieldwork. I came across your blog when researching one of my many projects and it was a big encouragement (and nice distraction!) for me. Thank you for writing it! I needed a little humor, and reading many of your postings rung true with my own experiences in OT school! It's so nice to know that you have been there, made it through and are now a successful practitioner (because sometimes we wonder...is it all worth it? Will I make it through, graduate, practice for a while, learn, become awesome, and NOT hurt my patients? lol)
As I have been both excited and challenged by my experiences in fieldwork, I found that I would really love to ask you a few questions, if you wouldn't mind.
First, I am very afraid for my first patients. I have learned treatment planning pretty well in an inpatient rehab setting (as well as can be expected after three months), but I am still struggling with evaluations. I'm missing silly things like tone, or misjudging ROM or balance, things that I am super super annoyed with because I feel like I should know them! Ugh! I really want to believe that I'll be a great OT, but that's hard right now when I can't imagine it, although I've been trying very hard to master skills, (I know I lack clinical reasoning). I'm scared that I won't be able to pick up on all the details I need to to holistically treat my patients and give them the quality care that they deserve, It's so frustrating! Any suggestions for how to improve, and/or what the first few years are like after graduation?
Second, I am trying to get my supervisor a super nice gift after all she's done for me...but I have no idea what to give her. She is a very private person so all I know about her is that she is very practical, enjoys spending a lot of time with her 16 year old niece, and she likes the Beatles. lol. She is a fantastic, very intelligent, experienced OT and I want to show her how much I appreciate all her help and guidance, but I feel like a gift card isn't creative enough, and all the OT related gifts out there are not her type (I spent three hours searching online last night!). Any ideas for an awesome gift for an OT? Right now it's between an Olive Garden gift card, or a pair of movie tickets so her and her niece can hang out, lol. Any better ideas would be appreciated :)
I won't take up any more of your time, but I am so glad I found your blog, wish you all the best, and hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
JANE DOE, Occupational Therapy Student
University EDITED
Regarding OT fieldwork presents: I would be interested to know more about what is normal, from my blog readers. It seems like a lot of students get their educators something at the end of fieldwork (something reasonable). What have you all given as presents historically, and/or do you find it appropriate? I know I bought some OT toys for a pediatric fieldwork (but at my goodbye party they bought me some awesome pediatric toys too!!), exchanged silly creative poems with another fieldwork educator (we are both dorks, what can I say), and um, I don't really remember for my mental health one. I don't think - or okay, I know, I didn't buy any of them gift cards or anything, but maybe I should have. Apparently a lot of students do. Ideas? I think buying or making items for the clinic (small things!!) that you know they will use/be appreciated, is always a winner....plus a thoughtfully written card for the supervisor. But who are we kidding I am sure they all love gift cards. :)
Regarding the fear of not being good enough yet, or that you'll never be good enough: ASKING THAT QUESTION MEANS YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH. :) if you have a healthy respect (sometimes fear) of what you don't know, you will always strive to learn more - with continuing education, reaching out to mentors, etc. It means you are far above most people/therapists and that you clearly show the compassion/concern/desire for growth that makes you an excellent clinician. It's true, your skills aren't perfect yet -and won't be for a long time. But with each day you will learn new things and slowly you will see the growth you want. Having a good mentor - or multiple mentors - is huge. Reach out to people you admire in the field. Talk to your co-workers. Read books written by people with the diagnoses you treat. Read community forums for those people. Put yourself in their shoes. Practice with your cooperative friends. Observe people in the supermarket. I promise you, these skills that seem so elusive, will eventually come. Just keep working at them and realize you are doing your best. Also, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. There are things that you as a new practitioner bring to the table that an experienced practitioner can't - such as fresh eyes, recent education, a (hopefully) still unjaded attitude, a creativity for "out of the box" ideas that mostly comes from not knowing any better/different, and then your own therapeutic value. You may have more compassion, more kindness, more creativity, who knows. A lot of times patients are helped just by having someone there who cares. Realize that half the battle - if not more - is just having the patient feel that sense of value/connection with you. So have faith in yourself. Believe in yourself. Know that as long as you ALWAYS know - even twenty years from now - that you don't know everything and that's okay. Know that we are in a profession that thrives on constant growth and development, and NONE of us, not even the AOTA president or your most revered OT mentor, know it all. There will be periods you feel great about your growth, periods where you are depressed about what you don't know, and periods where you don't care or think you are doing fine. It will all balance out. Just keep growing the way you are now and you will be fine.
PS: I guarantee you will do things in your first year (or years) where you will look back and go WHAT WAS I THINKING OH MY GOSH. Or "I'm such a fraud. They like me and think I am doing a good job but I have no idea what I'm doing." That's okay. Everyone feels like a fraud. Everyone has those movements of retrospection where they realize what all they didn't know. Just keep working to improve your skills, realize you don't know what you don't know, but as long as you follow the mantra of "Do no harm", you'll be okay, and you'll survive those moments of WHAT WAS I DOING?! :)
=======================
Hi Karen,
I am a fourth year OT student at the University of EDITED, currently on my level II Fieldwork. I came across your blog when researching one of my many projects and it was a big encouragement (and nice distraction!) for me. Thank you for writing it! I needed a little humor, and reading many of your postings rung true with my own experiences in OT school! It's so nice to know that you have been there, made it through and are now a successful practitioner (because sometimes we wonder...is it all worth it? Will I make it through, graduate, practice for a while, learn, become awesome, and NOT hurt my patients? lol)
As I have been both excited and challenged by my experiences in fieldwork, I found that I would really love to ask you a few questions, if you wouldn't mind.
First, I am very afraid for my first patients. I have learned treatment planning pretty well in an inpatient rehab setting (as well as can be expected after three months), but I am still struggling with evaluations. I'm missing silly things like tone, or misjudging ROM or balance, things that I am super super annoyed with because I feel like I should know them! Ugh! I really want to believe that I'll be a great OT, but that's hard right now when I can't imagine it, although I've been trying very hard to master skills, (I know I lack clinical reasoning). I'm scared that I won't be able to pick up on all the details I need to to holistically treat my patients and give them the quality care that they deserve, It's so frustrating! Any suggestions for how to improve, and/or what the first few years are like after graduation?
Second, I am trying to get my supervisor a super nice gift after all she's done for me...but I have no idea what to give her. She is a very private person so all I know about her is that she is very practical, enjoys spending a lot of time with her 16 year old niece, and she likes the Beatles. lol. She is a fantastic, very intelligent, experienced OT and I want to show her how much I appreciate all her help and guidance, but I feel like a gift card isn't creative enough, and all the OT related gifts out there are not her type (I spent three hours searching online last night!). Any ideas for an awesome gift for an OT? Right now it's between an Olive Garden gift card, or a pair of movie tickets so her and her niece can hang out, lol. Any better ideas would be appreciated :)
I won't take up any more of your time, but I am so glad I found your blog, wish you all the best, and hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
JANE DOE, Occupational Therapy Student
University EDITED
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Great sensory article in OT Advance :)
http://occupational-therapy.advanceweb.com/Editorial/Content/Editorial.aspx?CC=236729
Pretty detailed stuff! May need to keep this in mind myself! :)
Pretty detailed stuff! May need to keep this in mind myself! :)
OT in Gifford's case
Great article about PT/ST/OT in Gifford's rehab!
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2014685962_apuscongresswomanshotdischarge.html?emc=lm&m=645114&l=4&v=2724938
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2014685962_apuscongresswomanshotdischarge.html?emc=lm&m=645114&l=4&v=2724938
Sunday, April 3, 2011
OT PR!
http://www.onlinecollege.org/industry-experts/health-and-medicine/occupational-therapist/meet-an-occupational-therapist-karen-dobyns/
A recent online interview with Online College! I wrote my answers up in a hurry (my first week of training for the new job so a little overwhelmed with other stuff to do) so it's not my best stuff but it's still cool! :)
A recent online interview with Online College! I wrote my answers up in a hurry (my first week of training for the new job so a little overwhelmed with other stuff to do) so it's not my best stuff but it's still cool! :)
The social media article just came out!
I was reading Cheryl's blog and saw that apparently the social media article was in the March 28th issue of OT Practice, so it just came out...hopefully I don't sound too crazy in the article. Unfortunately I haven't been posting much lately, however it is spring break here (since I work for a school district), so I will likely have some time to blog! I still have to get my taxes and a few other things done though too! And catch up on my hideously behind e-mails. Yes I know, the same statement I make every time I blog. BUT THIS TIME I MEAN IT......hahaha.
I've accumulated a larggge pile of OT stuff just in the last month so I do feel like I have a lot to share! Maybe I can go through my current bag of OT tools to share sometime soon.
If any of you have stopped by here for the first time because of the OT Practice article, please comment and/or e-mail and let me know. And for those of you waiting for an e-mail from me from recent weeks (like the few I e-mailed promising a reply soon). I haven't forgotten about you, I promise! :)
I've accumulated a larggge pile of OT stuff just in the last month so I do feel like I have a lot to share! Maybe I can go through my current bag of OT tools to share sometime soon.
If any of you have stopped by here for the first time because of the OT Practice article, please comment and/or e-mail and let me know. And for those of you waiting for an e-mail from me from recent weeks (like the few I e-mailed promising a reply soon). I haven't forgotten about you, I promise! :)
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