Occupational Therapists Blogs 
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This page shows you the most recent publications within this specialty of the MedWorm directory.
Practitioners around NY State begin learning about EI reform proposals
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Earlier this week I noticed a large uptick in Google searches regarding early intervention that were landing on this blog so I started wondering what was going on. Turns out that there was a NYS Association of Counties meeting this week and the Department of Health gave a powerpoint presentation about the Governor's proposal. Copies of the powerpoint started to make their way around the State - and that got people doing some Internet searches for more information. Here is a link to the presentation for those who have not been able to see it yet.The powerpoint doesn't offer information that is materially different than what...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - February 3, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: health insurance OT practice Source Type: blogs
Whooie, these are the days of our OT lives...Email this article to a colleague.
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A lot has been going on in my personal life lately and it's um, to put it mildly, SUCKED. Some of it's in the private personal realm that I won't share here, but the other part I can share, which makes me very sad, is that my grandmother was put on hospice. I hope to be able to use some of my OT tricks to help ease her time left! I am going to go see her Saturday or possibly Sunday. Grandma was my best friend when I was a little girl and I've always been close to her. Going to work has been tough lately because I've been so sad about her + the other stuff, the teachers have noticed I'm really down. ...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - February 2, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
Pain reduction doesn’t (always) reduce disabilityEmail this article to a colleague.
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The relationship between pain and disability is a particularly vexing one in primary care. It would be great if it was possible to get rid of pain and be assured that any lingering effects on function would be similarly abolished, but it just doesn’t seem to be quite that simple.
Many different approaches to managing this situation have been suggested. One is to argue that people should be referred for a quick pain reduction injection – for those who have pain that is thought to respond to this approach. Another is to just “reassure” and review often. And still another is to provide a cognitive beha...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - January 31, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Chronic pain Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Coping strategies Pain conditions biopsychosocial CBT healthcare pain management treatment Source Type: blogs
'Non Traditional Fieldwork' runs face first into proposed New York State regulationsEmail this article to a colleague.
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My sensitivity for the challenges of being an Academic Fieldwork Coordinator runs quite deep; I held that position at a college for three years and experienced the difficulty with finding student placements. There never seems to be enough fieldwork placements, there are challenges with finding places that will provide a quality experience for the student, and although there have been efforts to incentivize practitioners to take students that does not overcome the practical obstacles.The repeating theme that the occupational therapy profession is not yet grasping is that there has to be some kind of understanding that servi...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - January 29, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: competency OT practice Source Type: blogs
always new thingsEmail this article to a colleague.
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This is just a stream of consciousness of stuff I've been doing/thinking lately. I have 262 NEW!! mails in my gmail box I haven't even touched and about 400 I need to deal with. I've just been extra super demotivated lately, which is uncool considering I am helping present on social media in a few months at the April conference! Thanks for all the kind words. :) I recently found some tiny clothespins that came in a travel kit for sewing, so I had to buy it of course. Today I used yarn to make a clothesline between two chairs, then I had a child rip out a single page at a time from a magazine i found in the recy...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - January 27, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
Are three hour autism training courses helpful?Email this article to a colleague.
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I received an email today from an agency that provides three hour training courses on autism required by the NY State Office of Teaching Initiatives (OTI) for all candidates seeking a Special Education Classroom Teaching certificate. The three hour course is popular because it is frequently used by CSEs as a training mechanism for educational staff who are working with children who have an autism spectrum diagnosis.I think the intent here is good - many professionals and paraprofessionals who work in special education may not have a lot of information about specific conditions and presumably anything that provides some inf...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - January 26, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: evidence-based practice autism Source Type: blogs
Understanding upcoming changes to early intervention and preschool services, Part 1Email this article to a colleague.
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This report was submitted to the Medicaid Redesign Team last year to provide input about the unsustainable increasing costs of these programs.Mandated Medicaid costs are crippling County budgets, and have been for many years. Most recently the State entered into a settlement agreement with the Federal Government often referred to as the State Plan Amendment. This settlement is the contract between New York State and Federal government whereby the State agrees to administer the Medicaid program in accordance with Federal law and policy. This agreement imposed backdated requirements that made it virtually impossible for Cou...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - January 18, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: Disability rights health insurance OT practice Source Type: blogs
wow, blogging massive failEmail this article to a colleague.
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I have 158 new mails in my email box :( that i havent even seen. Literally over a 100 + from blog readers that I have read but not yet responded to. Just okayed 15 comments today. I am a blog FAILURE lately. My personal life is a little different these days so I've not been home nearly as much! BUT this week I should be home quite a bit so I hope to get caught up on blog e-mails and product reviews.... This week I have a triennial and two initial OT evaluations, but actually my schedule isn't too horrible with evaluations/reports for a few weeks (for once) which is nice. :) Normally it's pretty slammed and I...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - January 16, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
HWT WebinarEmail this article to a colleague.
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I've enjoyed using the Handwriting Without Tears products this year at school. In case you aren't aware, they are offering a few free webinars that may be helpful to your practice. I have signed up to attend the Response to Intervention one since that is a concept I am still learning about and would like to see develop more in our district. It is being given by 2 OTs, and while it does not specifically say so, there's no reason that it shouldn't count for continuing education on some level, just check through your state guidelines when submitting. I like to pass on good CE resources, and especially those that are free and ...
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - January 15, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: peds CE Source Type: blogs
Gratitude when you’re in pain? You’ve got to be kidding!Email this article to a colleague.
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Or – introducing the “parent of all virtues” (Wood, Joseph & Linley, 2007).
For some time now I’ve been exploring the contribution of positive psychology on wellbeing in people with chronic pain. Positive psychology is the ” scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive”. (Seligman, ND). It strikes me that in chronic pain management, we’ve responded to the issues raised by people who don’t “live well” with their pain, leaving the group of people who do cope well largely ignored. We have much to learn, I belie...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - January 10, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Chronic pain Coping Skills Coping strategies Resilience/Health authentic happiness biopsychosocial chronic pain management gratitude mindfulness positive psychology psychological wellbeing Therapeutic approaches Source Type: blogs
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After a few wondrous days of ease in December, I made the transition to a new caseload. I say "made," but clearly I am still only "making" a transition. Jumping up from pre-K to teaching cursive writing and higher level praxis skills has been fun, but definitely an adjustment. I would like to have a time machine to go back and tell Miss Wilson that I would someday be helping others learn cursive handwriting- she might faint from the shock! I used a dodgeball on Friday for praxis skills, teaching novel dribbling drills I haven't done since high school. I also reinforced that if you want to really impress a young child, you ...
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - January 8, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: peds Source Type: blogs
Tear down the wall: Broken models of mental health service deliveryEmail this article to a colleague.
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I have a longstanding interest in Systems and their impact on our ability to care for people. In 2005 (I can't believe I have been blogging that long) I wrote a blog entry about foster care policy and its impact on occupational therapy.I try not to get outraged on a daily basis because it makes it a little challenging to maintain focus. If you think about foster care too much though it is hard not to get a little upset.These Systems are populated by well intentioned and kind people who have to do yeoman's work to make the System run. The problem is not with the well intentioned and kind people who work within these Systems...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - January 3, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: Disability rights OT practice Source Type: blogs
YikesEmail this article to a colleague.
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I've been playing for the last two weeks of break!! Have not done anything good!! Like get ready to start back at work on Tuesday! Yikes tons of evaluations coming up to work on. Anyway, will try to get back into blogging as I get back to work! I have 233 new mails though :x yikes. (Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G))
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - January 1, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
2011 Pushback against Fad OT InterventionsEmail this article to a colleague.
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Another significant theme in my 2011 forum conversations was pushing back against fad OT interventions. I think that it is an important enough topic to be re-posted here.Some of the fad and pseudoscientific interventions that I discussed in forums this year included therapeutic listening and other auditory interventions, deep pressure protocols (brushing programs), weighted vests, and Brain Gym.Fad interventions were relatively common in health care until research came along - and now we have mechanisms to test and see if people's 'ideas' about something hold up to any scrutiny. One posting asked about the validity of 'ast...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - December 31, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: evidence-based practice Source Type: blogs
The 2011 Social Justice Debates in occupational therapyEmail this article to a colleague.
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I wondered this morning how much writing I have done on various OT message boards and I started thinking that an awful lot of my opinions are probably documented all over the Internet. I visited the forums on the AOTA website and found the equivalent of over 40 single spaced pages of my writing! Then I thought it might be interesting to see what motivated me to post on professional forums this year. Here is a summary of one interesting forum conversation:The Social Justice DebatesEarly this year there was a motion to rescind part of newly adopted AOTA ethics statements; the concern was that they unnecessarily referenced so...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - December 31, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: Disability rights philosophy OT practice Source Type: blogs
Photo Phriday- creative styleEmail this article to a colleague.
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I have always liked the idea if the SticKids program for making sensory plans and handouts, and now I actually get to use it! While I do have some issues with how the SticKids software works, I still think they make my job easier with the products I can create for students. Sometimes though, only your own picture will do. (this was an activity we had safety tested in the classroom) (Source: Occupational Therapy Notes)
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - December 30, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: peds products Source Type: blogs
Photo Phriday: Mat ManEmail this article to a colleague.
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I love the Handwriting Without Tears products (fortunately my district has plenty) and the concept of Mat Man particularly. I think there is a huge advantage to be gained in spatial awareness, prewriting, and body awareness from teaching Mat Man. There's even a cute online game that even includes the song (requires a free login). I've used the manipulatives and drawing sheets for individuals and groups of preschoolers this fall. Here's some photo results from kids who used the manipulatives or interactive game first and drew pictures onto frames second. I love the repetition to cement the ideas, and the progressively more ...
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - December 16, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: peds treatments Source Type: blogs
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I LOVE hair tinsel and I have been getting it put in for months...I got red, green, and gold for Christmas....my OT kids (and some grown-ups) love it too.....anyway, some of the cute comments:from passing by second grade girls: "I love your bling bling!" from a kindergarten boy: "where did you get that sparkly stuff?" "can you buy me some? from a first grade girl, tentatively, after observing my hair bling and glitter eyeliner while I was observing in her class: "Were you in the Nutcracker?" awwww....lolYou could argue it's not professional but it's for the most part subtle (it lo...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - December 14, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
Lava Letters: Sizing/Line Orientation Game for HandwritingEmail this article to a colleague.
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See attached. You should be able to print these out as full pages. It needs to be in color. The amazing Tonya Cooley of TherapyFunZone.com fame created these for me based on the game I explained on this blog previously. I have been using a version of this all fall and without fail, all my little guys have improved their handwriting....can't say for sure there is a correlation but I like to think so. ;) Rules:1. Bumblebees live above the sky and if you write something that goes above the sky (NOTHING ever should be up there), bees attack it. 2. Lava is that middle red line. Baby letters should never go above it (ie a, e...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - December 13, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
Simulations of Learning DisabilitiesEmail this article to a colleague.
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It can be very difficult to understand what it's like for a child with a learning disability to participate in classroom activities, especially for a child who can't articulate all they are dealing with. I find it hard sometimes to plan treatments for kids to address some compensation methods or remediation of skills since I am still getting my feet wet. It's also hard to see preschoolers with simultaneous severe physical, visual, and communication impairments as they struggle to pick up on concepts such as identifying themselves, choosing an object, using a switch, etc. Some kids work EXTRA hard to learn, and if you were ...
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - December 12, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: peds students for parents cognition disability low vision Source Type: blogs
Photo Phriday!Email this article to a colleague.
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So I finally got some pictures off my phone! Here are some OT-related pics that you may find amusing.
It's totally unnecessary for parents to tally scoresheets themselves, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate it!
Can you tell this backpack belongs to a pediatric OT? This is an awesome dragon puppet that has a multitude of fasteners along his tail. Everyone loves Danny Dragon.
This is a shot of the beading dowel. The little guy who did this had no problem matching colors but was just randomly lucky on getting the right shape (30% or less, all trials. Pretty sure that was the only purple bead too).
This is a picture t...
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - December 9, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: peds Source Type: blogs
What to do when a patient is “inconsistent”Email this article to a colleague.
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I’m a practical person, despite occasional flights of fancy dreaming of a health service that really integrates a biopsychosocial approach for pain management, sigh… Anyway, my intention with this short series of posts about “faking” and “inconsistency” is to:
point out that pain is personal and subjective and because of this, we can’t know what it’s like to have another’s pain
make it clear that pain and impairment and nociception and disability are not equivalent, so we shouldn’t be surprised when inconsistencies are present across various measures
move detecti...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - December 8, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Chronic pain Clinical reasoning Pain conditions Professional topics Assessment biopsychosocial Health Source Type: blogs
Phew!Email this article to a colleague.
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Challenging day done. :)Some recent events I have discovered/learned/have occurred/whatever. My black cat is providing moral support as I write this by sitting next to me purring with one paw on my chest. *Angry Birds with a therapy swing: Take one therapy swing. Take stacked cardboard boxes with "pigs" (we used lightweight small balls) hidden within the boxes. Take one weighted ball of a few pounds dependent on kid's age. Have kid on stomach in therapy swing and throw weighted ball at cardboard boxes. (We had a few other lightweight things stacked in too, so it made noise). Explosion! As always, try this at ...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - December 8, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
"It's going to be very, very exciting." Not.Email this article to a colleague.
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I don't mince words, mostly because I lack time to do so and secondarily because I lack interest in political correctness. Let's talk straight about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.For some background and additional reading on the debacles that occur when government intrudes into health care decision making click on the 'health insurance' topics in this blog.At the 2010 Legislative Conference for National Association of Counties, Nancy Pelosi made her now famous remarksYou've heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other. But I don't know if you have hear...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - December 5, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: health insurance Source Type: blogs
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Here is my worm/lava/bumblee paper. Basically The blue line is sky and the brown line is dirt which is like the sky/grass/dirt paper already out there. The middle line is lava and it burns baby letters that go too high, ie a, e, r. Worms live under the lines and attack letters that go below the line that shouldn't (but they love tail letters like g, y, p, and get mad if the tail doesnt go below the line), bumblebees live on top of the lines and sting if you go too high. Sounds complicated but the kids grasp it quickly.So in the following sample, "My name" is perfect. the "i" in is went too high - above the lava - and got b...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - December 5, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
Visual Motor FreebieEmail this article to a colleague.
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I found this I Spy sheet on Scribd which can be downloaded for free. Some of the images are a little odd, but whatever. I added a document on Google Docs (here) which has a list of the items in the sheet (notations about which ones look a little odd and might be hard to identify) and has a few searches listed out to better make it into an activity. There's a screen to check the 4 quadrants, a listing of animals, and a few common letters listed out. Happy visual hunting! (Source: Occupational Therapy Notes)
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - December 4, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: treatments for parents cognition handy low vision Source Type: blogs
Moving into winterEmail this article to a colleague.
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I'm coming up on my third month of being a school therapist and a homeowner, and had a few other interesting things happen recently. Here's a bit of a recap.
I was feeling very over my head in the past 2 months about the conference presentations I had applied to do. I had my usual procrastination battles and feelings of not being qualified for one reason or another, really kinda getting down about it all. In summary, I was a lot more excited about presenting when I signed up in the spring than when it came time to present in the fall. But things turned around and I think they both went over well. I talked about some optio...
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - December 3, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: updates Source Type: blogs
wow, so behind on OT lifeEmail this article to a colleague.
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Hi lovely readers,Wow, I so desperately need to catch up this blog. I have lots of new ideas/activities to share + some sweet stories, etc. Unfortunately I've been running around like crazy. December is a rough month. One of these days I'll get to it!!! I think of my blog with longing almost every day and all the things I need (okay want) to share!!! (Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G))
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - December 2, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
The role of the occupational therapist in carpet cleaningEmail this article to a colleague.
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Jimmy was especially active and his mom was having a really difficult time keeping him occupied while she filled out his intake paperwork. His mom was a little frazzled as Jimmy darted around the room, jumped onto the chairs, pulled on the curtains (pulling them off the rod!), and banged on the windows. I intervened at the window banging for safety reasons and as I gently redirected Jimmy he lunged for his mom's coffee, and with a spray of cappuchino across the carpeted waiting room he finally paused."Oops," he said, as his mom gave him The Stare. Jimmy froze.Mom froze too, and after surveying the mess she excused herself ...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - November 28, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: ABC Therapeutics parenting OT practice Source Type: blogs
Pinterest occupational therapy ideas :)Email this article to a colleague.
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http://pinterest.com/funkist/ot-ideas/I updated my Pinterest.com account with a bunch of new pediatric OT ideas..check it out... (Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G))
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - November 23, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
Etsy occupational therapy gifts or ideasEmail this article to a colleague.
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I used to search Etsy for OT regularly adn nothing would pop up but now there is plenty! Great place to find presents, or get inspiration to make your own OT stuff to sell, etc... :)http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?search_submit=&q=occupational+therapy&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US (Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G))
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - November 23, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
Catching up on OT life :) LOOOOVE occupational therapy!Email this article to a colleague.
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So I have two new things I've been doing a lot lately. One is "High Five". I remember reading a (fictional) Emily Giffin book about a child who was severely burnt - she had OT in the hospital. The mom recounts how one of the doctors or something got the child to give her a spontaneous high five and she deliberately put her hand up high - the daughter put her hand up higher than they could ever get her to do in therapy, to deliver the high five. Because it was a joyful spontaneous act. So I've started doing spontaneous high-fives but with a twist....I immediately go into "high four, high three, high t...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - November 23, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
Thoughts about use of weighted vests to promote attending behaviors in childrenEmail this article to a colleague.
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Please reference an entry earlier this year about seat cushions. I am essentially re-posting that earlier entry but replacing 'seat cushions' with 'weighted vests.' Let me start this post with congratulations for Amy Collins and Rosalind J. Dworkin who wrote an excellent article in this month's American Journal of Occupational Therapy.Here comes some mildly edited cutting and pasting from the previous entry - and I will take the liberty of copying my own writing because the issue is identical and this entry will likely be searched separately than the seat cushion entry!I encourage everyone to open up the current American J...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - November 18, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: evidence-based practice school-based practice Source Type: blogs
“Faking” pain – and inconsistency in presentationEmail this article to a colleague.
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There is a common belief amongst some people involved in pain and pain management that a person with chronic pain should be consistent in their presentation. That is, be consistent in various settings, and consistent across various measures. This assumes that if inconsistencies are present there must be something going on to cause suspicion about the validity of the person’s presentation.
Returning to yesterday’s post, I discussed the distinction between nociception (activation of receptors in the nervous system), pain (the experience produced by the brain once it has interpreted the nociceptive action), disa...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - November 17, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Assessment Chronic pain Clinical reasoning Pain conditions Professional topics disability faking malingering Source Type: blogs
Keychain Connect 4Email this article to a colleague.
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The kids think my tiny Connect 4 is the cutest thing EVER and they love it....it's insanely tiny, see how its smaller than this 1st grader's hand?Notice the child is using his middle finger instead of index finger....this tends to be typical of kids who have some fine motor issues......the middle finger is technically more aligned with the thumb and therefore a little easier for these kids, but ideally we want them to switch to their index finger as that is, biomechanically/anatomically, a better fit......I should be able to spout off musculature and stuff, but uh, I've been out of school too long. Better go re...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - November 14, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
OT inserviceEmail this article to a colleague.
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I did the fine motor component of our inservice! We also had a handwriting area, self-regulation, and sensorimotor break component with our 4 district OTs. :) I had lots of toys out to fiddle with! Everyone was drawn to my table for the toys although the other tables did AN AMAZING AWESOME job.....The 30+ instructional assistants who took the inservice were very complimentary of all the stations. :) (Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G))
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - November 14, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
The vexed question of determining whether pain is “real”Email this article to a colleague.
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Every now and then the old chestnut of whether it’s possible to determine if a person’s pain is “real” arises. Usually it’s in the form of an insurer, or maybe an employer, who wants to know if the pain this person is describing can possibly be as bad as the person says because
“they don’t look like there is anything wrong”
“there are these inconsistencies”
“it’s taken too long for them to recover”
“they’re not participating in their rehab”
For the avoidance of doubt, I have not been able to identify any readily available test...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - November 14, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: adiemusfree Tags: Assessment Chronic pain Clinical reasoning Professional topics disability faking malingering Source Type: blogs
Where did my blog mojo go?!Email this article to a colleague.
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I still haven't done my three product reviews even though I keep it all next to me in my room so I am constantly staring at it, and I like them all, and I haven't blogged about the OTAC conference, etc etc....and I have over a hundred blog emails or comments to respond to. Wow. Yikes. FORGIVE ME :::flings self to floor::: I am in the midst of ten thousand evaluations with a lot of late night report writing .......is that a good excuse? I have two reports I am going to try to write up tonight so that I am not up so late on the week days....plus I've had several parents request a lot of information about certain ...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - November 13, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
love itEmail this article to a colleague.
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My coworkers at this particular school (I am here every Thursday), brought me pastries last Thursday to celebrate my birthday (which was over fall break), but I was sick. So they brought cookies today (M&M chocolate chip cookies, homemade), and they had my kids sing "Happy Birthday, Miss Awesome" to me and then we all got cookies....soo sooo soo sweet! Loved it! Love my job, love my co-workers. PS: Yesterday was FREAKING INSANE schedule wise! I am so tired. I want to go into more depth later. But just wanted to send a quick YAY for now ;) (Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G))
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - November 10, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
Wooo!Email this article to a colleague.
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Ben, AKA OTA_Stolinski is the winner of the Dycem giveaway! Congratulations! I see a turtle mat in your future! Email me at otnotes at gmail. I will definitely consider doing more giveaways in the future, (should I have items to do that with) but hopefully there will be more legitimate comments and fewer advertisements for fake universities and/or job search engines. (Source: Occupational Therapy Notes)
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - November 9, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
aughEmail this article to a colleague.
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tomorrow:School 1: Self-regulation seminar, 5 kids. Then see another kid, 45 minutes.Bolt to School 2: Evaluate a kid for an hourBolt to school 3: IEP meeting (a big one)Bolt back to school 1: IEP meeting busy day tomorrow!! lots of running around! Got some big reports to work on tonight! Yikes! Feel like I am back in school doing homework! Alas it's the real world, no extensions. :O (Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G))
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - November 8, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
weighted blanket....Email this article to a colleague.
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I just got a THIRTY POUND weighted blanket!!! :) From my friend Paloma for my birthday a few weeks ago!! (I'm 29, ooooh, old). I am VERY excited! It feels good! (Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G))
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - November 7, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
The Biggest OH NO Moment YetEmail this article to a colleague.
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Worst moment yet of this job:We have a high number of kids transitioning out of early intervention and into the IEP system. More than usual. So that has led to tons o' evals, IEPs, and meetings. I've been proud of staying ahead of all that needs done. Monday, I finished up all of the evals and the entirety of the IEPs. And today, at 330pm, I discover everything has been obliterated for 2 IEPs. Completely and utterly gone. And due on Monday. (Source: Occupational Therapy Notes)
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - November 4, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: peds Source Type: blogs
Tangentially Job-Related GoalsEmail this article to a colleague.
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Clearly, with my job in a new field and situation I've never been in before, I have goals. I want to be competent (and if possible, awesome) at what I do. But since there are a whole host of other things going on, here are my goals that are only somewhat related to the job.Learn to Navigate the County: I have never been great at finding my way. GPS was essential in Baltimore since I would likely still be driving around North Street trying to get home. My husband does most of the driving when we're together, so I didn't get a lot of practice. Now we've bought a home in a larger-than-I-thought county and I want to know how t...
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - November 1, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: personal balancing Source Type: blogs
HmmEmail this article to a colleague.
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A little boy told me today, "I get speech, and I go to reading in the resource center, and I see you. That means I do three sports at my school!" After a moment's reflection he asked me, "Is that what these are? Sports?" I said "It depends on who you ask!" He said "Is this my school job?" I said "yes, that's a great way of putting it." He asked "can I be paid?" I said "nobody gets paid in school!" and that was the end of THAT topic but I thought it was a great perspective. A few minutes later, he asked me if the people on the bottom of the world ...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - November 1, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
The more things change...Email this article to a colleague.
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So I have been working tonight on an entry about the indecision I have right now about the future and the convoluted OT path I have taken up to now. At one point, it started to seem familiar. I felt as if I had quoted Thomas Merton before, and it turns out, I have, 3 years ago when I was equally wondering what the heck I was going to do with my life. Oh goodness... that's a sign it's time to stop thinking for a little while. :) Sudoku here I come! (Source: Occupational Therapy Notes)
Source: Occupational Therapy Notes - October 28, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: personal Source Type: blogs
Remote your computer with your eyesEmail this article to a colleague.
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The MINDWAVE NeuroSky headset can detect Blink and thus be operated by a control software (Virtual NeuroBrain) or as a switch (Kontactor) for use with third-party software.
- NeuroBrain software is at the forefront of innovation and easy to use to control his computer with one finger, a nod or pressure. It has a virtual keyboard and mouse optimized when all orders are for one single push of a button (or wink) to minimize the fatigue. This program is much more accurate and compatible with a variety of devices, switches or head pointer. Compatible with The helmet NeuroSky MINDWAVE, c Is the only French keyboard-controllable ...
Source: meta-ot blogs - October 28, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Authors: reg31 Tags: Help for disabled people Source Type: blogs
yikes - OT chaosEmail this article to a colleague.
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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 unde...
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - October 27, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
Join us NOWEmail this article to a colleague.
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http://ot4ot.com/world-ot-day-2011/We are in the start of OT4OT's big day!!! Join us! (Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G))
Source: Occupational Therapy Students (B)e(LO)n(G) - October 26, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Source Type: blogs
The end product associated with a decided lack of true productivityEmail this article to a colleague.
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We have a lion in my office that was left by a child several years ago. Here is his picture:I placed him on my cable modem in plain view of everyone who came into the office hoping that someone would claim him. No one ever did, and I felt sad about it because he is a Webkinz and they were rather popular for a while and I am sure that some child was very happy at one time to have this toy. Anyway, I leave him on top of my cable modem just in case his owner ever makes a claim. He is our office mascot, and I have come to enjoy his company every day.Today I was cleaning and organizing because I couldn't settle myself into docu...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - October 26, 2011 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: ABC Therapeutics Source Type: blogs
