You Know You Are An OT....! Challenge for World OT day!

Happy World OT Day!  This has also been "OT Week" in Australia!  I have been involved in lots of promotion across social media to promote "occupational therapy" in some very exciting events!

One of these events has been the "You know you are an OT" challenge!  Occupational Therapists (and OT assistants) are special people who are so passionate about their jobs! 

Here are some of the memes I shared about being an OT. 

• You know you are an OT when you see an advertisement for a sponge and you think it would make a great sensory tool.
• You know you are an OT when your kids are constantly correcting YOUR pencil grip!
• You know you are an OT when you are at a store and the kids ask "Don't you want to buy that for work?" so that they can play with it too!
• You know you are an OT when you are making resources on the weekends and in the school holidays.
• You know you are an OT when you have more toys in the car than people.
• You know you are an OT when play is work and work is play.
• You know you are an OT when you can't fill in "occupational therapist" on the form without going out of the space provided.
• You know you are an OT when you spend longer in the toy shop than your kids!

There were also some fabulous contributions to the challenge by occupational therapists and OT assistants across the world. Here are some of my favourites:

• You know you are an OT when you get a writing sample in your child's first day of school pic! Preferred Therapy Toys
• You know you are an OT if you can't order without assessing the waiter's pencil grasp. Miss Jaime OT
• You know you are an OT when you analyze recycled shipping materials and find cool ways to use them at work. Cotalife
  
• You know you are an OT if you recycled household items as fine motor tools. Ruizd_2326
  
• You know you are an OT when you take your kid to gymnastics and think about how you could make the exercise harder or easier for your therapy kids. OTandgrowwithme
  
• You know you are an OT when you are taking photos and sending emails to colleagues about the state of the hospital shower chair instead of gazing adoringly at your new born baby! Lunchesandfoodfun
  

I have also been busy this week organising many Australian OT week online events with the lovely Anna from Kids Play Space for the "Australian Paediatric Facebook Group". 

We also asked group members to answer "You know you are an OT"...  Here are some of my favourites!

• Carla says "You know you are an OT when you notice that you keep randomly assessing people's sensory processing".
• Tash says "You know you are an OT when you constantly have playdoh in your fingernails!"
• Ana says "You know you are an OT when you love Red Dot and The Reject Shop a little too much !"
• Jacky says "You know you are an OT when you describe your weekend in terms of Therapeutic Listening Quickshift Albums...mine was a Sentimental Strawberry plus Reg3".
• Joanna says "You know you are an OT when you buy clothes based on whether you can crawl through a tunnel and attend a professional case conference in the same day. Ditto for shoes. Can I slip them on and off easily?"
• Carolyn says "You know you are an OT when you describe to others that you play for a living and the tools of your trade include a Lycra swing, a skateboard, LEGO and a variety of pencils!"
• Gabrielle says "You know you are an OT when you're trying to relax and watch some tv but all you can think of is how to correct the actor's pencil grasp!"
• Elise says "You know you are an OT when you talk to your husband in slow, one step instructions at the end of the day".
• Kahli says "You know you are an OT when your hands are constantly every colour but skin colour 🌈 and you analyse your own pencil grip".
• Kelsee says "You know you are an OT when you buy work clothes based on how suitable they are for an obstacle course!
• Claire says "You know you are an OT when you are so impressed when you meet a typically developing child with skills that some of your students/clients/customers dream of having".
• Elyssa says "You know you are an OT when you assess the motor skills of every kid at the park."

This is has been so much fun to celebrate World OT day in this way! I hope some of these made you smile or chuckle or just nod your head in understanding!

Give your OTs some love this week and let them know that you appreciate them!  Cheers to my fellow OTs!

Cindy Chuan is a registered Occupational Therapist practising in Sydney Australia.  She has two young children who are a constant source of inspiration and learning.  Cindy loves working creatively to help children to reach their potential, finding opportunities in everyday living and making learning fun.

Cindy is the author of the Occupational Therapy blog Your Kids OT 

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