yikes - OT chaos

I had so many good intentions. I have so much to write about the OTAC conference, and the classes I took, and OT4OT, etc etc, and catching up on my 100+ blog comments/emails, but noooo...I continue to suck. :) Here is a screenshot of what my box looks like!!!! But I SHALL CATCH UP EVENTUALLY! I always do. You should see my floor - SO MUCH FILING!!! I accumulate awesome resources. Then they go into piles. Then they add up. Then I never use any of them because I have too many.

I like to think of myself as organized, but once I get overwhelmed that goes out the window for a while. So......still my ultimate goal to get it under control. Especially because I need to work on a few reports etc before back to work on Monday.

Anyway.......more later ;)

Join us NOW

http://ot4ot.com/world-ot-day-2011/

We are in the start of OT4OT's big day!!! Join us!

OT4OT party time :)

It's fitting that a recent OT Practice magazine was all about international work. I've observed OT in Colombia (for several months) and also in Norway. I've been in a lot of touch with the OTs in New Zealand, Canada, and the UK over the years. I get e-mails all the time from blog readers in foreign countries who want to touch base. In some countries OT is more understood - like in Norway, where everyone I knew made comments like "Ooh, this would be good to use in OT"....I was shocked so many people knew what it was and what we do. It was lovely. And it was great to see OTs working in Colombia who had limited resources as part of being in a 3rd world country, but still did a fabulous job of providing high quality care.

One of my long-term goals will be to go do OT in a Spanish-speaking country for a while, to get immersed and learn Spanish better (don't worry, School Steps - not planning for a long time ;)). And I know there are many therapists who do missions in other countries. I feel like OT most definitely has a global identity and it's fascinating to learn about how it works in other countries, from insurance to relationships to resource access. For example, in the USA we learn how to out-source, for example for custom burn garments. Because we can. But in countries like South Africa, the OTs learn to sew custom garments themselves, because they don't have outsourcing possibilities. That's amazing to me!

I don't have any major enlightening thoughts on this subject besides I am so glad that there is an OT4OT helping to further the profession of OT in a very Centennial Vision kind of way. :) Hopefully I can attend some of the sessions being held tomorrow!

http://ot4ot.com/world-ot-day-2011/

ouch!

I got this lovely gem in my box. I stand corrected. I wrote that list during one of my first semesters in OT school and I never noticed my mistake, nor has anyone else ever pointed it out. I'll edit it to correct it, but I've got to say the tone of this correction kind of stung!


Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Top Ten Ways to Impress your Occupational Therapy ...":

It's Case-Smith, not Case & Smith. Dr. Jane Case-Smith is an OT professor and researcher from the Ohio State University. If you're going to leave feedback for future students, at least leave correct information.

My birthday weekend!

I turned 29 this past Friday the 21st. I'm old, yo. :) Having lots of small celebrations with family/friends this weekend. Tonight we had delicious Thai food in Pacific Beach. :) I got a Sonic Care toothbrush I've been wanting from my mom, and a Wusthof serrated paring knive I've been wanting from my dad. I also got some neat gift baskets/presents/cash plus a beautiful purse and some OT toys! My gift to myself was going to be a 21 pound weighted blanket, but my friend Paloma pre-emptively bought me a THIRTY POUND (??????) one, so I cancelled my order. We'll see how 30 pounds is, I'm a little skeptical as that doesn't fit the typical rule of thumb based on weight. (Weighted blankets can be dangerous - use carefully only with able-bodied and cognitively intact people!) Oh wait, cognitively intact? That takes me out of the running... ;)

Tonight my friend Paloma helped me organize my toys (again). I need to get a better system in place during the week so they don't get so disorganized. I like to have LOTS of options with me.

I have a few pictures to put up from conference, plus SO MANY random topics I want to discuss that I jotted down during the various sessions. Technically I have NO excuse that I haven't been working on it this past week. Just failed. NOT COOL! So gear yourselves up for a blogging blizzard one of these days soon.

By the way, I was talking to an OT who is stressed out with her job and therefore kind of burnt out on OT. She wanted to know how I mantained my passion and enthusiasm for OT and I explained to her that my love for OT is separate from my job - no matter how bad a day or stressed I am from my job as an OT, in THEORY I LOVE LOVE LOVE the field of occupational therapy and what it STANDS for and what it supposed to be like. I realize that no one, least of all me, ever meets OT perfection, but I am passionate about our foundational beliefs. Every day, in every way, I am an OT. It affects how I see the world. Every single neuron of mine has a tiny little OT bubble in it along for the ride. I cannot separate being an OT from being human. I adore it with every ounce of my being. Even at the worst of times.

Ideally, obviously, you have an OT job that rocks so that you don't have trouble keeping up your momentum....but even if you do have that trouble with a difficult job, try and remember the OT values, even if they seem fuzzy at the moment.

That was kind of a random side note. It popped into my head.

Tomorrow two OTs are coming over so we can work on a presentation coming up. They are coming to my house and I can show them some of my toys, I am excited...

My goals for next week include writing up two and a half initial OT evals, preparing for three or four others, continuing to organize toys, clean my car of crazy toys (vision tubes, shoes for lacing, random board game pieces, dry erase board, etc), and dealing with ridiculous amounts of paperwork. :) Procrastination is a bad thing.

The pictures: I need to try to get back to using more pics. I have thousands of OT pics on Facebook from like five years ago if people want to be my FB friend and go look at old albums (just tell me who you are when you request friendship, ie you are a blog reader). One is a LOLcat that I thought was amusing from an OT standpoint, and one is the pumpkin my talented friend Kerri carved a few years ago!

I think it would be very neat if people would take pictures of "OT" more often in various states such as sand, glass, tile, whatever.....do something creative. If you submit it I'll happily post it. My e-mail address is in the sidebar in the About Me section.

Okay I'll stop now. My friend Paloma is here reading Mommie Dearest (NOOO. WIRRREEE. HANGGGAAAARSSSS!) and I am playing online like a bad girl.

CIREC - an amazing rehab center in Bogota, Colombia

I spent 2 months volunteering at the rehab center CIREC last fall in the OT department in Bogota, Colombia. They treat a lot of land mine victims there. There were tons of amputees wandering around and everyone was so friendly. I loved it. I am in the process of figuring out how to donate to them. I also want to write an OT Practice article about it eventually.

In the meantime, watch this 5 minute video. You'll get to see the gym where I was at and some of the staff and patients I got to see, as it's a pretty recent video. Most of it is in English. A lot of adorable kids!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=UbW9a9HVpJg

oooh

I had a great time at the OTAC conference...California's OT Association. Looking forward to doing LOTS of blogging as I wrote down oh, 15 topics or so I need to write about!! I am definitely back into blogging mode. For right now though, I just need a little time to recuperate!!! Hopefully by tonight I will start writing!

Occupy AOTA?

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-10-09/news/ct-edit-occupy-20111009_1_protests-occupational-therapy-financial-crisis


I was seeing how to find my blog on Google.com (type in Karen Dobyns, or ot student, or occupational therapy blog), and I typed in just occupational therapy. This news article linked above came up but it had to do with anguish of the Occupy Wall Street peeps. I was thinking on the way home today that AOTA needs to take advantage of this "Occupy" stuff and do a membership drive called "Occupy AOTA" or something, to get people to join! Just a thought.

By the way AOTA sent out a great little 2 page pdf on sensory issues and kids during Halloween. I forwarded it to all the educational specialists at my 4 schools and asked them to send it on to teachers of kids with autism/sensory difficulties.

I love being an AOTA member and I highly recommend it. Rah rah rah. :)

So....my clothes are in the dryer, I showered, my cat is sleeping on my leg, the fan is going full blast (Santa Ana here), and it's almost 10pm. I'm going to go to bed now, but get up at 5:45am to do some printing of conference handouts, my flight ticket, etc.....tomorrow I see some kids plus work hard on some billing stuff. Then rush home to shower/finish packing before our flight leaves! I am NOT taking my computer. I'll be back Sunday night. And PS, robbers, I have two other people living here, so don't rob us. Thanks!!! :)

Pumpkin vs OT. Pumpkin wins.

My mother had me go out to her car asking me if I felt strong. She opened the car door and I said "Holy Bleep". Without the Bleep part. Then I carried it inside and it almost killed me. That is our ugly garage, don't judge. By the way, notice my roommate's blind cane glinting in the background?! :) Or is it a white cane. I should know the proper terminology.

OTAC Conference and random OT stuff

1. I was out in the sunshine with a kindergartener so the sun was really showing off my hair tinsel. He asked me "Why does your hair glow up?"

2. My cat IS LITERALLY TRYING TO BITE MY FINGER AND KEEP IT HOSTAGE INSTEAD OF WRITING THIS OW

3. I took back my finger and now he has SWITCHED SIDES TO MY OTHER HAND!!!!

4. You know how I start OW ed a campaign to get my kids to call me Miss Awesome? (obviously a joke). Today I walked into a room with a 2nd grader who likes me a lot and his eyes lit up. He was working with an aide and the aide said "oh Miss Karen is here". He replied "No, it's Miss Awesome."  AHAHAAHAHAHA

5. I should be doing laundry, showering, and packing for OTAC and yet I am sitting here blogging?!! I had an IEP meeting first thing, then an initial OT evaluation meeting, then training in billing, plus some observation of a few kids in between, then I went to Office Depot, Staples, TJ Maxx, Halloween Store, Target, Big Lots, Michaels, and Dollar Store to try and find this specific bulletin board I love, and the Target employee suggested I try wal-mart. and she is right, I think it's where I got it!! (I couldn't remember where I got it but I wanted more so I've been searching). I forgot about Wal-Mart since I only go there like once a year. Guess I have to go again. Heavy sigh. Barf. :) Much prefer me some Target action. Especially those dollah bins.

6. I am excited about OTAC! Should be fun! If you are going to OTAC leave me a comment or email or say hi if you recognize me! If you see a girl with black glasses and glittery hair, that's me!!

7. I really should stop now.

Going to the CA OT Association Conference this weekend!

I am going to the California OT Association conference this weekend along with a fellow co-worker! My company, School Steps Inc, is based out of Sacramento, so I finally get to see homebase! I just got handouts I need to download as no hard copies will be available. I am going to bring address labels so I can quickly stick them on things at various booths instead of having to rewrite my address constantly. I also plan to bring business cards of course....and comfortable shoes! And a couple of fidgets like Tangle Jr's to mess with while I sit in course after course! I'm scheduled for all morning and afternoon Saturday and Sunday so it will be a lot of learning. Hope to network with a lot of other OTs!

I'm also compiling some tiny OT gifts to give to my awesome awesome mentor Tricia. :)

I got some more hair tinsel put in today again as it was mostly all gone. I got the most I've ever had - like 16 pieces! Purple and gold. I'm telling myself it's an October extravaganza for Halloween lol. I think it's still reasonably subtle so hopefully no claims of unprofessionalism will head my way! The kids (and I) love the sparkle. :)

I have been brainstorming a lot lately on things to get in dollar bins that can be used in different ways (a la the recycling therapist although I'm not quite so hardcore). I also got some of those popsicle molds and realized if I take off the tops, it's basically 4 containers attached together, so kids could sort 4 different things into the little bins. I also found some tiny tongs that LIGHT UP when you squeeze them closed, they came with a bag of gummi worms I got a long time ago. So of course I pulled that out.

I also added a toy car to my arsenal as I have a lot of young boys and Tonya once again of TherapyFunZone gave me some ideas on how to use the car with writing/drawing shapes/letters!

I had one triennial evaluation today (every three years a child gets fully re-evaluated to determine eligibility for special ed) at one school, then went to another to work on eval write-ups I should have done some make-ups but I am so swamped with paperwork that I knew I needed to finish the eval, and Wednesday afternoons are reserved for meetings/paperwork anyway really. Tommorrow I have an IEP, an initial OT evaluation IEP, and training in billing software, so I don't get to see ANY of my Thursday kids. That's a lot of make-ups as Thursday is typically my busiest day!

I haven't finished up my paperwork due tomorrow so I guess I better stop writing on here. I've gotten into a blogging mode lately. All the sweet comments and e-mails certainly contribute to my new burst of blogging energy. Thank you so much. As always, I assure you, you will eventually get a response if you emailed me. It will just be slow in coming. Thanks for your patience.

Can strainer and pipe cleaners - OT tip

I recently posted about using a colander with pipe cleaners which I still think is awesome and fun! But I was browsing the dollar section at CVS the other day and found can strainers for $1 that basically can do the same thing on a much smaller scale.....since space can be a premium for traveling therapists,  it may be more feasible to carry around a can strainer than a colander.

OT Tip- mechanical pencils

For some kids with serious issues re-sharpening pencils or kids who need to learn to use less pressure, and/or kids who just like mechanical pencils, these are my favorites by Papermate. I've used them since I was a child and I have a student in a younger grade who uses them religiously now too. They are sturdier than most mechanical pencils.

Mini Connect 4 - OT Tip

I stole this idea from TherapyFunZone's Tonya Cooley. She talked about the awesomeness of using a tiny Connect 4 because it really encourages a pinch grip etc. I found this - keychain sized - and can't wait to try it out....

Monsters individualize fingers - OT tip

Monsters are great for individualizing fingers! "Blue monster, take a bow!" They are also great on thumbs for thumb wars etc as it encourages the thumb-up position so important in cutting and general neutral positioning!

augh!

i totlaly didnt share the most outstanding session of my day. lol. I work with a child who for whatever reason HATES going below the line with his letters - ie g, p, y. He has a goal to do that. I've explained to him that the worms ATTACK people because they get ANGRY because they are HUNGRY and need to eat the tails of those letters. He thinks it is funny and will deliberately go out of his way to either avoid using tail letters or will say he doesn't care if the worms attack him. So today I pulled out one of my fake worms. We were re-copying a form letter for a final draft and each time we approached a tail letter I'd make the worm dance in front of him and act obnoxious. It totally worked. LOL.

THEN we used the second half of the session to work on touch typing. I wrote "A S D F" on his left knuckles and "J K L ;" on his right knuckles with a red magic marker. We played one of those free typing games, Space Invaders etc, using only the home row. So at first I literally helped push his fingers down one by one (he had initial trouble individualizing), but slowly he started getting more proficient with his home row. He never had to take his hands off the keys or scan since it was written on his fingers. I got the idea to write on his fingers from some gloves I saw in a catalog.

He enjoyed it! And so did I. After that session I felt like it had been a good use of our time. :) The End

PS: Notice the procrastination!!!!

Typical school OT day for me

I've decided I can write a little bit about certain specific stories as long as I remain vague on identifying details. I'm going to refer to ALL my children as "he" just to avoid he/she language, and also I think most OTs have a much higher percentage of boys than girls on their school caseloads. Just an anecdotal guess. And if a child is in K through 3 I'll say lower elementary, 4-6th I'll say upper elementary. There. We have that established.  And also, ALL my children are general education mainstreamed, with just special services as needed, ie one on one aide or time in the learning resource center, or speech/OT/adapted PE, etc. The other OTs in the district have special day classes meaning children with mild-moderate diagnoses in a classroom. So their days look different than mine!

So let's go through my day a little bit....

7:30am: Get to school. Work on an evaluation due the next day and other paperwork.
8:30am: Walk into lower elementary classroom and help individual children out during writing centers. I usually carry with me my "lava" (red pencil), a short fat pencil, a short skinny pencil, a small dry erase board (with 3 lines appropriate for younger grades), and a dry erase marker. That way I can write the writing prompts/sentences out on the dry erase board. Then, if given permission, I give their papers "lava" (redden the middle dotted line), and we start our writing with prompts from me to remember the baby letters versus tall letters etc.... to be clear, that's what I carry when I go into a push-in session for writing, meaning I am in the classroom. I bring a TON of stuff with me each day to each site for the kids who come to my corner.

9:50am: Recess for the kids....do some prep/paperwork, chat with teachers about kids (consulting)

10:30: Go into a lower elementary classroom and highlight writing for a young child who has serious fine motor difficulties. (I write in highlight, he traces). Then take him for pull-out for remaining fifteen minutes since rest of class is moving on. Work on handwriting and tweezers with bugs and theraputty with beads....

11: A child comes to me. We play the push-pin corkboard game (pushpins are game pieces) on a corkkboard with the alphabet in Sharpie on it in game board format. The child rolls bouncy dice (literally you have to chase them around the room) and whatever letter we land on, we practice. It can be just doing it 3x or a word starting with that letter or whatever, based on child's ability. I have discovered that two of my high functioning children with autism love making the game complex - we add on four extra invisible people. So the child gets a team of 3 and he names all his pieces, and I get a team of 3 and do the same. He rolls the dice for his 3 people, then he rolls for mine, and we have to keep track. For example, "Ladybug is the purple pushpin and she got a 6" "Kitty is the silver pushpin and she got an 11". The game gets a little crazy when you are playing with 4 invisible people but they stay MUCH more engaged with their fake people. Also, a lot of children with autism have issues with winning/losing, but when you have invisible people playing on "teams", it takes away SOME of that stress.

11:30: Lunch for the kids and therefore no one I can see. Paperwork/evals/talk to teachers/eat lunch in teacher's lounge to collect gossip/knowledge/consult etc

12:10: Work briefly with a child on re-writing a pen pal letter. Focus on logical flow, handwriting legibility etc. Have him write on every other line as he tends to write large. I had planned an activity to do with him, but his teacher hoped he could work on the letter so that was totally fine. I like it when they have work for me.

12:30: Another child comes to me. Play the push-pin corkboard game at his request with our invisible teams.
1pm: Run to IEP meeting for child, one with only a few goals and no parental issues so pretty quick this time.
2:20: Kids get out of school. Debrief/consult with teachers. Paperwork etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Get theraband for a child's chair. Get inflatable cushion for another child's chair. Give an aide carbon paper to encourage a child with light writing to use more pressure with the magic paper! lol. Speak to some teachers about scheduling children around IEP meetings coming up. Make copies out of a journal for writing samples. Score writing samples.

Tonight: Write up a huge evaluation! And organize my current toy bag a little, it's getting a little nuts!

So....that was a semi typical day for me! Oh, highlights: a little boy telling me earnestly why he likes the theraband looped around his chair "It's so I can work and play at the same time." PS: I know it takes up more material but I much prefer to LOOP the theraband in a circle around the front legs of chair versus just tying a single piece to each side - the kids like to put their legs within the loop.

Another semi highlight: Me going to pick up one child and two others clamoring to go with me. ;)

Another semi hilight: Getting to hang out with awesome teachers and special ed staff and adorable kids!

I think that's it for now. I just wanted to write a lot. Probably mostly procrastination from this huge eval. :(

Thanks for the sweet comments lately!! Getting my head big. :)
PS: I didn't edit this/read this over, it's just stream of consciousness so don't judge harshly ;)

sparkle sparkle sparkle!

The other day a child with pretty significant ADHD (not on my caseload) walked past me in the learning center (I was sitting at a desk doing paperwork) and instantly stopped saying "Sparkle sparkle sparkle!!" She started touching my hair. I have hair tinsel because I do LOVE sparkles. :) I was like Ooh! Do I have any left? I typically get about 12 pieces put in but I hadn't seen any in a while so figured they had all fallen out. She determined I had four pieces left. Then she saw my face. "Sparkle sparkle sparkle!" she said, pointing to my eyes. I also wear glitter eyeliner. Because again, I do love sparkles. :)

That encounter tickled me...she was enthralled. I've also had children with autism (notice my person first language?) look me in the eye because of my glitter eyeliner catching their eyes. I'm a big believer in appealing to the child demographic as an elementary school OT, even if it makes me a little extra eccentric to adults, lol.

(Side note - if you put a child with autism in front of a mirror and put fingerpaint or face paint on their face, they will often look themselves in the eye longer. And if you put the child with autism on one side of a tunnel and you on the other, essentially turning the tunnel into "blinders", they will also often look directly at you.)

I've also had two SEPARATE encounters where I walked into a 1st or 2nd grade classroom and a young girl sitting near the door in both cases immediately latched on to me saying "I like your glasses! I like your hair! I like your shirt!" etc, in one long breathless exclamation......both times I laughed and it made my day. It was funny it happened almost identically in two different classrooms!! I LOVE working with kids! They say and do the funniest things!

Just for the record though I've also had plenty of days where kids refuse to acknowledge my existence, haha. I just choose to remember the fun days... ;)

I've been using my push-pin on corkboard handwriting game with bouncy dice a LOT lately....pretty much all the kids are drawn to it. Then we proceed to use the lava/worms/bumblebee sizing rules....I know I was asked to put up an example, I will try to get a picture in the next day or so! Along with my long-promised Dycem post and Linda's daily living skills post! And soon a Pen Again post (those funky Y shaped pens)....a little girl today refused my normal pencils today, saying she wanted to use the "awesome pencil" (referring to the Pen Again samples I received today in the mail to review!)

I'm starting to feel significant stress for the first time this year as the demands increase, but overall still LOVING my job in the school system! SO much fun!

I just spent an hour on the phone with a long-term blog reader, Meredith, who is doing a fieldwork in one of my old haunts. It was lovely! Okay now it's 7:15pm and I should probably get some work done.....blah

Karen

I interrupt this OT announcement....

Hey wait this is an OT announcement. I finally hit over 250,000 page views on this OT blog!! It only took me like five years, cough. :)

Today was a bouncing day with a bajillion kids and a bajillion teachers....I wore my cat out from afar as he is now asleep in my lap. Tomorrow is another busy day! I must go get toys and paperwork together! E-mails to be answered soon. :)