Caitlyn's OT Blog

Barbara's Buttons Day Planner WHAT IS IT? Barbara's Buttons Day Planner is a simple, personalized day planner made from buttons, magnets, a white board and marker. The whiteboard allows the schedule to be changed for each day, and also makes it easy to modify plans throughout the day if needed. Once a task has been completed, a button is placed by it to represent a colorful checkmark. Buttons of different colors and sizes are available to personalize the day even more!  WHO COULD USE IT? While it could benefit many people, it is very beneficial for individuals with memory loss. This can come from many causes, such as Dementia and Multiple Sclerosis. Memory loss makes individuals become dependent on the people around them, but this day planner is a great way to give back some of that independence. Once the schedule is made, the button makes marking off a completed task simple and colorful. The openness of the whiteboard allows for anything from a detailed sche...

I think everyone should read the interview of Maryum Ali, Muhammad Ali's daughter, by People magazine. It is very powerful as she discusses her father's diagnosis with Parkinson's Disease. She has been invited as one of the speakers at the World Parkinson's Congress where she will tell about growing up with someone with Parkinson's Disease. Ali tells a story about her father's birthday party and how she and her siblings had everything there that they knew would make their dad happy. She talks about how she believes that, “Being engaged in what makes you happy is so important". This is important for everyone, but especially for individuals diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, and it really backs up Occupational Therapy's purpose. Ali also talks about how important it is not only for the individual that has been diagnosed to have an understanding of the disease, but it's also very important for every family member to understand it as well. I think ...

Ruby Bowen was Caroline's grandmother. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease after showing symptoms and going through the required diagnostic testing. I thought it was very strong of Caroline to do a study on her own grandmother. My grandmother passed away from Early-Onset Alzheimer's when I was 9 years old, so I don't remember much of her life with it. Now that I'm in school and learning more about rehabilitation and many diseases, I have started asking my mom more questions about what led to the diagnosis. Caroline said her grandmother's first symptoms were having trouble carrying on a conversation because she would lose her train of thought. My grandmother would get very confused by the thermostat. My mom said she would show up at her house and the heat would be set on 90 degrees but my grandmother couldn't figure out why it was so hot. Alzheimer's disease is a horrible thing to watch a loved one go through. I hope and pray for a cure very soon!

Jack Osbourne is Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's son. He is a husband and a father to his two daughters. He was diagnosed in 2012 with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis when he went to the doctor for blindness in one eye, numbness in both legs, as well as stomach, bowel, and bladder issues. In 2013, Jack starred on Dancing with the Stars. This is so impressive for anyone to do, especially someone newly diagnosed with MS. After his diagnosis, Jack also started a website called You Don't Know Jack about MS.  This site has many resources for individuals with MS to use, as well as videos and blogs on Jack's life with MS. Jack is currently filming the TV show, Ozzy and Jack's World Detour, where he and his dad go on roadtrips to amazing places all over. Jack is a very driven person that strives to live life to the fullest every single day, despite his MS.

While I was out of class on Monday, May 15th, I still learned a lot about Guillain-Barre Syndrome. I think it is such an interesting disorder. It amazes me that someone can begin with symptoms of weakness and then can become paralyzed, only to potentially recover from the illness. The group I was assigned to for the case study was on a man named Joseph Heller, who was born in 1923. He was a writer and a traveler. He was writing his 4th book and started having trouble swallowing and difficulty raising his arms and legs. He ignored the symptoms until worsened and he went to the doctor where he was diagnosed with GBS.

Trey Grey was a husband and a father, as well as the drummer for Brooks and Dunn. When he was 34 years old he was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease. His mother and uncle had previously been diagnosed and passed away with the disease. Grey started a fund at Vanderbilt and was a spokesperson for Huntington's Disease Society of America (HDSA). While he is technically considered a celebrity, Grey lives a very quiet life since he is now in the late stages of HD. Huntington's Disease is a very heartbreaking disease.

I don't know a lot about Tourette's Syndrome, but I have always been intrigued so I chose to watch the TEDx Talk Tourette Does the Talking by Thomas White. I would highly recommend for everyone to watch this video. Thomas is a college student living with Tourette's Syndrome. As he is introducing himself he says, "I stand before you today, hoping to lay bare the inter-workings of a mind that attempts to remain robust, despite an unrelenting neurological assault". Thomas does a wonderful job of showing his robust mind, as well as the neurological assault he is faced with, making a clear distinction between himself and his Tourette's. This is a very raw look at a day in the life of someone with this type of Tourette's Syndrome. White, T. (2014, January 21). Tourette Does the Talking: Thomas White [video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0szLOMIt9SQ

We have been learning about ALS in our Neurological Aspects class, and this disease has interested (and honestly, terrified) me more than any other. I think it's hard to believe that something like ALS can happen to the body. My dad is a contractor and my mom is a real estate agent. Last year they built a house for a couple in their 50's, and the woman had just been diagnosed with ALS so they needed a very accessible home. When they began building the house the woman was able to walk and talk, but by the time they moved into the house she was using a wheelchair and was having major respiratory issues. She communicated with an eye gaze, and talked about how terrifying it was to be trapped in her own body with her mind still intact. She talked about her respiratory issues and how she would try to take a breath but her lungs sometimes would do nothing. She said it felt like she was suffocating so much of the time. Unfortunately, she passed away only a few months later. This disea...

During our lab for Neurological Aspects of OT, we got the opportunity to make a universal cuff. We used materials that could be bought at Walmart or somewhere else for cheap, and I thought this was awesome! If we have a client that needs a universal cuff or just wants to try one out, we don't have to wait to order one and make them pay a lot of money. We can make it right then and have it custom fit to the client. I thought it was really awesome that in this field we have the opportunity to help clients out in such creative and useful ways! I'm also excited to have my own universal cuff. I wrote my name with, and even fed myself some ice cream using it!

Steve Gleason was a safety for the New Orleans Saints. At 34 years old he started feeling a twitch in his arms, shoulders, and back. Symptoms progressively worsened, and a year later he was diagnosed with ALS. After his diagnosis, he founded the organization "Team Gleason" which advocates for individuals diagnosed with ALS. He also began recording a video journal of his life that is now a documentary called "Gleason". Steve Gleason is married, and after his diagnosis he and his wife decided to have a child together. I thought this was so interesting and very telling of their love for one another! In 2013, Steve was given the opportunity to work with Microsoft in developing a wheelchair that could be controlled with eye gaze, and he became the first person with one of these chairs! Eventually, Steve was put on a trach and feeding tube, so he is now completely dependent on this technology. Through all of the struggles that ALS can cause, Steve continues to work hard i...

During class as we were discussing how someone's life changes when receiving a diagnosis, Professor Lancaster talked about the Latin phrase, "Dum Spiro Spero", which translates to "as I breathe I hope". I immediately thought about a good family friend that was diagnosed two years ago with brain cancer. She had two tumors (astrocytoma), one of which was operable. They opted out of surgery and immediately began chemotherapy and radiation. The family and our community had so much hope. There were immediately fundraisers, t-shirts, Facebook groups, everything - all promoting hope. It has been two years since her diagnosis, and she now has 5 brain tumors. While the prognosis is not promising, the hope for a miracle still hasn't faded. Her husband is so hopeful with every breathe he takes. It's interesting to see how much hope changes with each doctors visit, and how we hold on to every last chance of hope, no matter how small it is.

We had Fletcher Cleaves come speak to our class a few weeks ago, and my eyes were opened to so much after hearing him speak. As I'm driving down the road, I often wonder just how many people are using assistive technology to drive down the road as well. I'm also a lot more observant of buttons for automatic doors. It's incredibly disappointing at the lack of buttons at most buildings, and the overall accessibility of the city. My apartment complex is far from accessible, only having one handicapped spot in front of each building. There are only stairs to the 2nd and 3rd floors, but even if someone lived on the first floor, there is a giant curb that doesn't have a ramp on one side of the building. The side that does have the ramp rarely has any parking spaces. Someone would have to park in the back like I do, then drive all the way around the building just to get to the ramp to go inside the apartment. I have also noticed around our school, the sidewalks are pretty much...

On Wednesday, April 26, our class was given the opportunity to attend a Rolling Grizzlies basketball practice. The Rolling Grizzlies are a wheelchair basketball team located in Memphis. I chose this for my assignment because I'm very passionate about adaptive sports and I love learning about all of the opportunities for individuals with disabilities. The Rolling Grizzlies began practice by warming up, then started some drills. While they were playing, we noticed the different chairs and supports that each individual had. Some had a chair with practically no back on it, so we knew they had to have trunk support. The coach blew the whistle and told everyone to line up for suicides. He blew the whistle again and the players left the baseline as quickly as they could. He blew it again and they changed directions incredibly fast! This continued for the length of the entire court. I was so impressed at how some individuals could maneuver their chair and change directions so quickly. The...

A few weeks ago, an article was circling on Facebook from people in my hometown. The article was titled, “Knoxville Family Upset Over Disabled Son’s Treatment in Store”. Disappointed with such a terribly worded headline, I clicked on the article anyway and watched the news segment. It was on someone I had worked with at camp. His name is Sam, and he is 20 years old and has Down Syndrome. He and his mom were shopping at Stein Mart when they went to try clothing on in the dressing room. Stein Mart doesn’t have a family changing room, and Sam needs assistance with most ADLs, especially dressing. His mom took him in the women’s dressing room with her and he tried on his new clothes. He stepped out to look at himself in the mirror, and an employee began telling him how he is not allowed to be in the women’s dressing room. His mom walked out of the dressing room to see what the commotion was, and the employee told her, “We can’t have him in here. You guys are going to have to go somewhere el...