My observation at Squadron Line Elementary School was remarkable. Rebecca was very knowledgeable and she really provided us good insight on what it is like to be a pediatric OT. Being able to see different treatment approach facilitated to different ages was a great learning opportunity. Rebecca’s intervention was tailored and individualized to address the child’s needs. We were able to see many different areas being addressed, such as the use of AT, handwriting, and gross and fine motor skills. It was also interesting to see how she handled the situation when the children started getting bored. She incorporated what she knew they are interested in and was able to keep them engaged the whole time. It was very eye opening to be able to see the …show more content…
patience that is needed to become a pediatric OT as one have to be flexible and adaptable since every client and situation is different. Group Leadership Experience What thing I learned from our group leadership experience is that being flexible is necessary.
Grading the activity up/down was crucial in order to meet the children where they are at (mentally and physically). Although keeping the students attention was difficult at times, interacting with them was not as challenging at all. They were open and eager to start any activities that we presented. Having to work with children from all ages was beneficial as I learned to adapt and expand my interpersonal skills. At first, I was a little doubtful running groups that involve children, but having to watch Alexis first before running our own group was definitely helpful. It allowed us to see the elements in facilitating group activities and the importance of being flexible and creative. Having a co-leader during group leadership is not only helpful, but necessary. It would be almost impossible to run groups with 15-20 students considering that certain age groups have very limited attention span. In both gross and fine motor activities, we had to modify the activities in order to keep the children engaged. I believe that knowing how modify, adapt, and grade up/down was key to our success in running …show more content…
groups. Learning Experience Being exposed to this population was very eye opening.
Children are very complex and they all have different developmental backgrounds. However, helping them maximize their play, social, or school participation is possible because as OTs we are capable of looking at even the tiniest possibilities. We can focus on what the child can do, not what he cannot do and we make it fun. Through this experience, I learned the importance of occupational therapy in school settings. Professional Development I believe one of my best strengths that helped me during this experience is having the innate ability to connect with people. My weakness is that I am the type of person who can be too scared of change. I have always perceive myself as consistent and while that has helped me succeed in multiple areas of life, they have also hindered my growth. I need to be more open to change, be able to embrace the uncertainty, and be willing to deviate from the plan to achieve goals because that is what occupational therapy
is.
Though occupation usually refers to a job, a person’s occupation is initially determined by what their everyday life consists of. When a person becomes incapable of performing the tasks that they are expected to do in their everyday life due to developmental delays, physical injury, or psychological problems they are often referred to an occupational therapist. Occupational therapists, or OTs, usually have occupational therapy assistants, often called OTAs. The OT gives the OTA a set of objectives to help the patient achieve. Since people go through numerous occupations during the course of their lives, OT’s and OTA’s prov...
Change is something that human have to face often, yet it is still very hard for us to adapt to it. We can, in turn, agree that change is not easy (Jacobs 2002). Occupational therapy has been thought a lot of changes which give rise to new treatment methods, new approaches and a better to communicate with the patients. Below is an analysis of the changes that have been made in the occupational therapy field and their outcomes.
Volunteering at a children’s crisis treatment facility, volunteering with Special Olympics, coaching children’s sports teams for 10 years and working as a substitute education assistant has increased my understanding of childhood development. Grandmound Elementary School provides me with opportunities to strengthen my leadership and collaboration skills, through teaching art (as a volunteer) to the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade and serving as PTA president. I was able to implement many enriching opportunities for students in areas of art, science, and reading. I learned to work as a team, set targets, achieve goals, give and receive guidance. Participating in these activities has confirmed that working with families and particularly children are my purpose.
"Occupational Therapy." KidsHealth. Ed. Wendy Harron. The Nemours Foundation, 01 July 2010. Web. 01 Mar. 2014 .
Parker, G. E., Solomon, J. W., & O’Brien, J. C. (2011). Pediatric health conditions. In J.W. Soloman & J. C. O’Brien (Ed.), Pediatric skills for occupational therapy assistants. (190-234). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Ways that I would recognize staff members is by organizing events such as Teacher Appreciation Day or by reaching out with social media. By organizing Teacher Appreciation Day, the staff members of Cal High would be rewarded with awards that represent the appreciation the student body has towards them and for all the work that they have done. Students could make cards or posters throughout their classrooms and could have their peers sign them by writing thank you notes or expressions of appreciation. Students that highly value their teachers could also recognize them by rewarding them with class parties or small gatherings that are dedicated to appreciating
I find occupational therapy to pique my drive to teach people valuable life skills as well as learn from those people and their experiences. Being an occupational therapist would allow me to have one-on-one interactions with patients and establish meaningful relationships over the course of time. It would also give me the dutiful privilege and responsibility of instilling confidence in others and helping them realize their full potential in self-suffiency. All of my personal experiences, challenges, educational backgrounds, and professional interactions have guided me toward pursuing my goals of gaining experience working in all populations, enabling patients to thrive in their daily lifestyle, and spread public awareness of what OT has
witnessed first-hand the impact occupational therapy can make in people’s lives, watching the delight of a
OT was founded in 1917(Barker Schwartz, 2003). Since then, the paradigm has shifted twice, resulting in three different paradigms. Kielhofner (2009) describes the first paradigm as paradigm of occupation that prevailed within occupational therapy from its founding until the 1940s. This paradigm views occupation as an essential part of life and health and focuses on the environment and mind rather than body and impairment. Occupation was seen as a therapeutic tool and a way of achieving dignity for the individual. These values arose due to the influences of social and health care movements of pragmatism, Arts and Crafts movement, and moral...
Occupational therapy has a multifaceted nature providing endless opportunities to serve a wide range of people within many environments, which is just one of the reasons I love this occupation. My long term goals enlist the desire to maximize my knowledge and abilities to care and supplement the lives of anyone that may cross my path in this career. I have seen occupational therapy positively impact the lives of people around me, and I strive to be a bigger role on the team helping make that happen.
Great leaders are few and far between, but everyone possesses the power to be a good leader. I have only been in the military for about three and a half years; most of this time has been spent at CMR St-Jean and RMCC. I have yet to be put into any major leadership roles, but from what I have been able to accomplish in regards to leading others and the leaders that I have been able observe over the last few years, I have started to slowly figure out what type of leader I would like to become. According to Johns and Saks (2014) leadership is, “The influence that particular individuals exert on the goal achievement of others in an organizational context” (206). From past experience, influencing others to do something can be complicated at times but can be accomplished by staying focused on the task at hand. The leadership roles I have been able to take part in have brought me to the conclusion that cohesion is the core factor of how I lead.
Leadership can take many different forms, depending on the person and the situation in which it is needed. Collaborative leadership is a leadership style in which a leader brings together a large group of people, with a variety of backgrounds, to make a productive decision and act upon it. According to Chrislip and Larson (1994):
One of the most important components of leadership is the leader. A leader is responsible for his or her followers and the overall goal of the group or organization. Leaders are the people held accountable or everything that happens, good or bad. On the other hand, the second major component of leadership is the followers. Without followers, a leader would be worthless. Followers make up the backbone of a leader because they are the masses that get goals accomplished. A leader is just one person, but the number of followers is countless. In order to be an effective follower, there are a countless number of characteristics that allow a follower to be the best they can be. Five of these characteristics include a positive attitude, communication skills, being part of the process, being open to new ideas, and patience.
The American Occupational Therapy Association School Mental Health Work Group , (2012) Occupational Therapy’s Role in Mental Health Promotion, Prevention, & Intervention with Children & Youth: Recess Promotion, Available at: http://www.aota.org/-/media/Corporate/Files/Practice/Children/SchoolMHToolkit/Recess%20Promotion.ashx, (accessed: 05/01/14)
This experience as a whole provided me with the opportunity to show my professional quality as an educator, a cooperative team member, and a lifelong learner. A few things that I continuously had to reflect on throughout this experience was my self-competence, my performance as well as the children’s, and of course my professional demeanor which directly impacted the effectiveness of my planning, teaching and...