National OT Week (Australia) and World OT Day!

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October is a busy month for Occupational Therapists!  In Australia, it is National OT week from the 19-25th October and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists celebrate World OT Day on the 27th October.  This month is about raising the profile of Occupational Therapists and sharing about what we uniquely do!

Occupational therapists work with people of all abilities and all ages to do the things they want to and need to do through the use of therapeutic activities and equipment. An occupational therapist may work with children in any of the following areas:

• Prerequisite activities – the child’s physical abilities, such as motor control, hand-to-eye coordination, body awareness and sensation
• Functional skills – the child’s day-to-day living skills, such as eating, writing, going to the toilet, interacting with other children and playground skills
• The environment – such as classroom furniture, classroom and schoolyard access, and equipment for woodwork, art and physical education.

In celebration of OT week and World OT day, I thought I would answer a few questions so you can get to know me better!

How do you describe OT?
When I was at university, I remember people describing Occupational Therapists as being "generalist specialists" or "basket weavers"... well there is some truth in both those terms.  Occupational Therapists look at a whole person (or child) to help them participate in their activities of daily life.  We help to train or re-train skills (using various activities), compensate for difficulties (modifying the activity, recommending equipment or modifying the environment) so that the person can participate in life to their potential.

What is something you have learnt as an OT?
In my first job as an OT, I worked with children who had significant physical and intellectual delays.  I learnt how to use an electric kitchen carving knife to carve out foam seat supports for wheelchairs.  We would glue parts together onto a plywood board, then cover them material cut and sewn especially for the unique foam seats. Whilst this was time consuming and at times frustrating, I was very proud of my achievements! 

Where have you worked the longest?
My first job was also my longest.  I worked in the Nepean area of Sydney for over 7 years.  I loved the people (both staff and families) that I worked with during my time there.  I learnt everything in this first job from wheelchair prescription, multi-disciplinary assessments, use of visual aids for learning, major home modifications, working in schools and much more.  I'm so grateful to the other OTs and health professionals who guided me and took me under their wing when I first started.  I also think back to the privilege it was to work with so many families and see how having a child (or children) with a disability affected the whole family 

What has been the funniest moment as an OT?
The funniest moment must be when I was working with two cheeky 6 year old boys who decided to have a spontaneous farting competition whilst we were working on handwriting (in a very small room).  It wasn't funny at the time but hindsight is a good thing!

Here are my top 5s. {You will have to stay tuned for posts on some of these!}

• Top 5 tools for my therapy toolkit: Theraputty, earth paper, pencil grips, gym ball, stickers!
  
• Top 5 favourite ipad apps for kids (for now): Dexteria Jr, Sparklefish, rED Writing, Sensory Treat, Imagistory
• Top 5 sensory tub materials: Kinetic sand, playdough, rice, shaving cream, water beads (post coming soon).
• Top 5 recipes to do with kids: Anzac Slice, Banana Sour Cream muffins, Lemonade Scones, Raspberry White Chocolate muffins, Pizza
• Top 5 craft to do with kids: stain-glass windows, fizzing baking soda, paper planes, painting, cardboard box creations

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Why do you blog?
I started blogging as a way of recording down my therapy ideas whilst having a slow down in my working life to spend time with my own children.  I love sharing my ideas and showing others how to engage with their kids with simple activities that can be done at home.  I also love reading other blogs and trying out new ideas!

I think it is difficult for some to access Occupational Therapy services due to waiting lists, financial constraints or a lack of understanding of how Occupational Therapists can work with children and their families.  I hope that Your Kids OT will help these families!

Thank you to all who subscribe or follow Your Kids OT on social media.  I appreciate your feedback and comments!

Are you an OT celebrating OT week or World OT Day?  How do you describe OT?

#OTweek #WorldOTday