Caitlyn's OT Blog

Autism is so intriguing to me. I have a cousin with it so I have been fascinated since a young age. During high school I spent a lot of time volunteering in the special education classroom at my school. Then, during my undergraduate career, I became a nanny for a 3 year old boy with Autism. I also worked in early intervention and Applied Behavior Analysis. Because of these experiences, I was determined to work in pediatrics later in life. That was until 2015 when a series of events really opened my eyes. My cousin with Autism had been aged out of high school for a few years by this point, and he had nothing to do. All he did was sit at home and watch TV, which led to him becoming overweight and depressed, resulting in behavioral outbursts. I have another cousin that has an intellectual disability who was preparing to graduate high school, and her parents were so stressed about what her plans would be. Around the same time all of this was happening,  I got an internship with an acti...

The case study on Robert was so interesting. He is an 88 year old man with Parkinson's Disease, and was having a lot of trouble with motions to be able to perform ADLs such as laying down for bed or sitting to watch TV. It was really important for him to be able to go out to eat with his wife. The intervention approach was the LSVT BIG. It is a very intensive program, mostly for individuals with PD. Therapy sessions start out 4 times a week, and the client is taught how to do the program at home, with one month check ups. The program must be continued at home 4 times a week for the most success. We got to watch videos of the client before he started the program, going from sit to stand position and sitting to supine position. We then watched videos of him at his one month check up, and the progress was incredible! I was so amazed at how much he improved in such a short amount of time. The LSVT BIG is something everyone that works with geriatrics should be certified in.

Joni Eareckson Tada's life story was incredible to learn about. Joni lived a typical, active life for a 17 year old. She had plans for college, a career, and one day a family. All of that changed the day she dove off a boat dock and severed her spinal cord at C4-C5. As a result of her injury, Joni only had motor control from her neck up. While many people would think that Joni's life was left with no purpose, she kept a positive attitude and worked hard. I loved the fact that her OT didn't dwell on the fact that she no longer had motor control from her neck down, but he focused on getting her engaged in using what could work- her mouth. Joni learned to use her mouth to type, paint, and much more. Today, Joni is a published author and artist, a singer, and a world traveler. She even started a camp for people with special needs in India! This story was so inspiring to me. Keeping an optimistic attitude, no matter the circumstances, is one of the most important things in life!

I chose this movie for my first Neuro note because I loved it the first time I saw it. Before this movie came out, I read the book in two days. Needless to say, I saw it the night it came out in theaters. As I watched it a second time, I was more interested in the therapeutic side of the movie since we just recently learned a lot about SCI’s. I thought the insight given on a person living with a Spinal Cord Injury was so interesting. Will Traynor lived an extravagant and adventurous life until his accident. His new caregiver, Lou, wanted to help him enjoy life again, so she did everything she could to make him happy. She even organized a trip and took him to the beach. She inspired me throughout the movie to stay positive, and to do everything I can to help my client live the life they want to. This movie also did a great job of showing the side effects someone with a SCI can experience, such as pain, secondary health problems, and trying to adjust to the overall lack of independence....

During class today, we learned about Clinical Observation and Documentation. It made me very thankful for my past experiences that allowed me to get some practice in both subjects. During high school, I took a lot of health science courses and we spoke a lot about what to do if an error is made during documentation, so I learned to be in the habit of that. During my undergraduate career, I majored in Therapeutic Recreation (which is very similar to OT). During our classes, we learned about the importance of objective language. I had an internship working with individuals with special needs, and my coordinator forced us to document every client we worked with. While I hated it at the time, I now realize how beneficial this was in preparing me for being an OT. At the end of my internship, my coordinator had me go back and compare the notes I was writing then with the notes I had written at the beginning of my time there. I was terrible when I started! It was honestly...

During class today, we started off by talking about the midterm evaluations. I thought it was a wonderful idea for Professor Lancaster to have midterm evaluations. I also thought it spoke volumes about how much she cares about our learning experience in her classroom. I think it would be terrifying to ask 37 people what they liked about what I'm doing as well as for constructive criticism. We spent the first half of class discussing these ideas as a class. If I'm ever a professor, I would love to be as invested in my students and their learning experience as Professor Lancaster is. She is very inspiring! For the last half of class we discussed the OT process. I thought it was so interesting when I learned that OT's are sued the least out of all healthcare providers. It speaks volumes about the value of building a therapeutic relationship with clients!

During this class Professor Flick spoke about health promotion, health literacy, and prevention. We learned about the three different types of interventions that aim to reduce risks to health which are: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The primary intervention is meant to prevent the disease or injury before it occurs, secondary is to reduce the impact of a disease that has already occurred, and tertiary limits the impact of an ongoing illness that has lasting effects. I thought the most interesting topic we talked about was health literacy. I honestly had never heard about the topic, but it was so interesting to learn about. We learned about how it effects people's ability to use the healthcare system, share personal information, engage in self-care management, and understand risk. We watched a video about a woman that couldn't read very well and the doctor's office gave her a lot of papers to fill out. She did as much as she could and turned it in, only to end up having ...