When someone goes to college they almost always are asked the famous question “So what are you doing with your life?”. For someone like me, going for Occupational Therapy, it can be sometimes harder for people to under stand what the basis of my upcoming profession is going to be. The most famous response that I personally would get would be something pertaining to Physical Therapy. Most people don’t understand the difference between Physical and Occupational Therapy, nor do they understand occupational therapy at all. When people were asked what they believed Occupational Therapy was, the least accurate answers came from teenagers, and the most interesting answers always came from some one who is an adult and/or in a health profession.
When asking around, I was able to retrieve more answers from a younger generation due to my group of
…show more content…
I asked a young man that I work with who is still in high school. His response was “It sounds like you do therapy as an occupation.” (personal communication) His answer was in a way shocking to me. While he was correct, he completely had no idea what Occupational Therapy could do for someone. I explained to him that Occupational Therapy is also a career designed to help assist people who have a disability to perform everyday tasks, plan goals, and work on achieving those goals. After telling him that, he responded again with “So its basically Physical Therapy.” (personal communication. The conversation continued with me explaining to him that physical therapy is more getting the muscles and joints to move better, while Occupational Therapy is about putting someone’s disabilities to work so that they can work to achieve everyday goals and tasks. To my surprise, the conversation ended with him being very interested in the career of occupational therapy. I am currently working on convincing him to really take in in consideration as a personal
Becoming an Occupational Therapy Assistant has been an ambition of mine for several years now. After researching, job shadowing, and talking to professionals, I have decided to make Occupation Therapy my career. My passion is to help patients by participating and assisting them in their recovery from injuries and disabilities. My compassionate and caring attitude will be vital assets in pursuing this career. After training in Occupational Therapy, it is motivating for me to know that I will be a part of assisting patients to gain back their independence. Helping others is something that I am passionate about in my career and in my spare time. I have been on several mission trips to Haiti and other places which I have provided care for others in a medical setting.
For some people, doing simple tasks may seem impossible because of a mental or physical disability that restricts some seemingly simple functions. These people can seek help from a recreational therapist to help achieve personal goals that may seem unlikely for them to accomplish. As part of my senior project, I had to research a career that I’m interested in and what it takes to obtain that career. I chose to research recreational therapy, and I looked at multiple websites to see if this career is a good choice for me. I had never heard of it before and didn't know that it was a career, but as I researched more and more, I realized that it could be a great fit for me. I also looked up some colleges in Pennsylvania to see what school I should go to to receive a good education that will prepare me for starting my life as a recreational therapist. I even emailed a professor, who used to be a therapist herself, of recreational therapy at the college I am interested in and conducted an interview. I learned a lot about this interesting career along this journey and I’m
Townsend & Polatajko (2007) state that “Occupational therapy is the art and science of enabling engagement in everyday living, through occupation; of enabling people to perform the occupations that foster health and well-being; and of enabling a just and inclusive society so that all people may participate to their potential in the daily occupations of life”.
My work experience helped me confirm my interest when I got to see the roles of Occupational Therapists first hand. I was able to spend time shadowing an individual from a special needs school, which moved onto being able to run sessions with minimal help in gross and fine motor skills with the children who have a wide range of disabilities. It was a great experience to observe how everyday objects could be used to help build up these skills and how much the children enjoyed the activities. I was also able to shadow an OT within the Early Intervention in Psychosis team, this
Occupational therapy is a career focused on helping people who have or are at risk for developing an illness, injury, disease, disorder, condition, impairment, disability, activity limitation, or participation restriction. An OT’s scope of practice may involve addressing “the physical, cognitive, psychosocial, sensory, and other aspects of performance to support engagement in everyday life activities that affect health, well-being, and quality of life” (Definition of Occupational Therapy Practice for the AOTA Model Practice Act, 2017). I don’t feel like occupational therapy is the right career for me because I feel like I lack certain characteristics that someone in this profession should have.
Occupational Therapy is a health care designed to treat an individual’s disability and difficulty to improve their performance in their daily life activities. The term occupation does not only refer to the job of an individual but refers to what they do in their everyday lives, which is why any individual, regardless of age, may benefit from occupational therapy. Occupation is everything people do to occupy themselves, which includes work, leisure, and self care (CAOT). An occupational therapy program aims to improve the individual’s performance and engagement because of their physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities.
When I was 15, my grandmother suffered from a severe stroke and was advised to go to a rehabilitation center. At that time I had not ever heard of the profession called occupational therapy. Upon visiting my grandmother, I had the opportunity to witness several health care professionals working together to help rehabilitate her. I have always wanted to engage in a career in which I could attribute to helping people, and at first I thought physical therapy would best compliment my natural abilities but then I encountered the occupational therapist. So as I watched her work with my grandmother diligently I realized that I had found exactly what I was looking for.
Occupational therapy was a career choice I fell into. When I first arrived to Keiser University back in 2009 I was going to apply for the physical therapy assistant program. Physical and speech therapy where the only therapeutic disciplines I had any knowledge of at that time. When I met with the admissions counselor she informed me the waiting list for the PTA program was about two years, I was floored I wasn’t going to wait that long I needed to start school ASAP. The counselor then asked me “ what is your goal?” and my response was “to work with children in the medical field without being too medically involved”. She then handed me an occupational therapy pamphlet and I just signed the paper work to start that month. I honestly
Occupational therapy (OT) theory offers valuable contribution to support professionalization since possessing a unique body of knowledge is essential to define a profession (Cooper, 2012). To utilize theory effectively, it is essential to differentiate between generic and specific theory as knowledge of the core theory helps to form OT identity and action as a practicing practitioner. In this essay, OT theory refers only to philosophy and OT specific models. Frame of references (FOR) will not be included since it can be shared with the other professions (Boniface & Seymour, 2012).
An understanding of occupation and its science dimension enables the therapist to gain knowledge about how patients orchestrate their lives through the doing of occupations in any given context. The occupational therapy proce...
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.
My interest in physical therapy was by a complete coincidence when researching numerous types of physical therapy facilities for my brother, who needed PT after an accident that involved his leg. Up to that moment, I had no direction in life and did not know what career to pursue. This was evident in my grades, but also in my occupations after I dropped out of school, resulting into one dead-end job after another. I was instilled early in life that no matter what type of work I was in, I need to be a professional and give it my best. “Never give anyone a reason to talk bad about you and your work, so you must be sure that your quality of work is impeccable,” was what my Father would tell as I entered the work force. In following my fathers’ advice, I would be hired and within
First, a career as a physical therapist would be my primary choice, with occupational therapist being my secondary choice. These careers are extremely similar in terms of salary, educational requirements, and necessary skills. The primary difference between the two professions is that physical therapists focus on helping those who are victims of unfortunate accidents and face a sudden and drastic change in their life. On the other hand, occupational therapists focus on helping those who have illnesses or birth defects to learn life skills necessary for basic survival and independence (“Difference and Comparison”). The aspect that most attracted ...
field of occupational therapy and how this fit my aspiration to make a difference in peoples lives. At this
Being a young adult, I am continually thinking about my future. Throughout high school, I had been reminded daily to start planning my future, which meant determining a career path for myself. In the hope that I could decide on a career, I began thinking about my motivations and aspirations. Because of both my desire to help others and my strong interest in medicine, I had decided to pursue a career in health care. A career in health care had always interested me, as I wanted to gain knowledge of medicine while also being able to help those in need. One career that would allow me to exercise both these things is a physical therapist. Physical therapists are known for their passion and capability to rehabilitate others, which is