OT with Autism

Hi Readers,

Autism is a development mental disorder that many people know about, but many people don’t know what the child or adult with Autism go through to try to live a normal life. This is where occupational therapists come in. I know I have talked about this a lot in my other posts, but this is what they do! They help individuals try to perform everyday tasks to the best of their abilities and patients with autism are no different. OTs with together with the patient, families, caregivers, teachers, and coworkers to ensure everyone understands the needs of the patient. The OT helps “people with autism adjust tasks and conditions to match their needs and abilities” (AOTA).

As in OT in this particular area of practice, they can work in hospitals, schools, perform at home therapy, and nursing care facilities. Also in some communities they have facilities for individuals with disabilities to come and be with others like themselves where the OT could work. Obviously people with autism are of all ages so there is a range of patients you could work with as well. The OT performs a variety of tasks and therapies with the patient that is unique to them and the type of services they require.

I hope you found this information useful and informative about occupational therapists working with patients who have autism. Even though this is my last blog for the class I made it for, I hope to continue posting and informing you more on other areas a degree in occupational therapy could take you!!

Thanks for reading!

Megan

References:

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2011). Occupational therapy's role with autism. Retrieved from https://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/AboutOT/Professionals/WhatIsOT/CY/Fact-Sheets/Autism%20fact%20sheet.pdf

Occupational Therapy in a Different Kind of Health Setting...

Hi Readers:

This week I want to talk about an area in health that occupational therapist can work in that many people do not realize. Sleep is an area in the medical field that many people look past, but is essential to a healthy life. Occupational therapy connects with sleep because, if an individual is struggling to sleep or does not get enough sleep, they do not have the energy or the ability to perform everyday tasks (AOTA).

There are over 80 sleep disorders which effect peoples’ daily lives, and that is why we have occupational therapists! Because there is a large range of disorders, the OT can work with a variety of different patient types. Some patients OT help with sleep disorders are ones with an autism spectrum disorder. The OT assists the patient and their families in creating routines, habits and patterns when it’s time for bed (AOTA). If the OT is working with a patient that struggles to relax around this time, they can help them with calming exercises. Another simple way an OT helps patients with sleep, is just to perform more physical and vigorous activities with them to ensure sleep. Occupational therapists can also be involved in the diagnosis or assessment process for patients. There are many factors that contribute to sleep disorders or sleep deprivation and the OTs have to determine what they are in order to correctly treat them.

In general, sleep is a part of daily life and essential to our health, but many people look past it because of their busy lives. Some people struggle with sleep and do not have a choice in the matter. Sleep effects how we live our lives and how we perform everyday tasks. This is directly linked to occupational therapy and why we have professionals in this field. I hope I provided you with new information on how an OT can assist in sleep!

Thanks for reading,

Megan

References:

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2012). Occupational therapy's role in sleep. Retrieved from http://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/AboutOT/Professionals/WhatIsOT/HW/Facts/sleep.pdf

OT in the NICU

Hi Readers:

This week I want to talk about the NICU, or the neonatal intensive care unit. This is a department in a hospital deals with prematurely born babies and newborns who are experiencing problems after birth. The occupational therapist’s role in the NICU is to evaluate the baby, develop a plan of treatment, assist in treatment, and to educate the families, then finally the discharge process.

Areas of treatment that the occupational therapist works with the baby on are neurobehavioral organization, sensory development and processing, motor function, pain, daily activity and social-emotional development (AOTA). Even though this unit strictly works with infants, it works with patients who have all different kinds of conditions.

A fellow blogger named Kayla has a whole blog dedicated to occupational therapist in the neonatal intensive care unit. She discusses treatments and managements, different types of patients in the NICU and more. Kayla is also an occupational therapist major at Saint Louis University and has a strong interest in children. Kayla uses great sources in her weekly blog posts, giving her posts great credibility. If you want to learn more about occupational therapy in the NICU, go to Kayla’s blog “Occupational Therapy in the NICU”.  I will leave the link below! I hope you learned a little bit more about OT in the NICU and find Kayla’s blog even more helpful!

Thanks for reading!

Megan

Kayla's blog: http://nicuot.blogspot.com/

References:

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2006). Specialized knowledge and skills for occupational therapy practice in the neonatal intensive care unit. Retrieved from http://www.aota.org/-/media/corporate/files/practice/children/browse/ei/official-docs/specialized%20ks%20nicu.pdf

Occupational Therapist in Oncology

Hi Readers:

Another area where an occupational therapist could work is oncology, or cancer units. Working in this area means that you would mainly work in a hospital, either general or children’s, or sometimes rehabilitation centers and hospice units. A general hospital means that you could have a variety of patients of all ages.

As an OT in this department, your role would be “to facilitate and enable an individual patient to achieve maximum functional performance, […] regardless of his or her life expectancy” (AOTA). This means that you would help a patient with everyday life activities, lifestyle management, help them maintain functional range of motion through exercises, cognitive skills and more. There are many different types of cancers and they, along with their treatments, can effect patients differently. This means that each patient will have unique needs for therapy and plans of action. Some patients struggle with the side effects of treatment such as fatigue, pain, and other illnesses. While other patients may have difficulties socializing as a result of their condition. An OT would “address these effects through intervention aimed at restoring function” (AOTA). Even once treatment is over and a patient is in remission, they still require OT services to transition back to normal living.

An occupational therapist can make a great impact on cancer patients both during and after treatment. Cancer is a disease that can drastically effect a person’s daily living and they need assistance on how to live as normally as they possibly can. Hopefully I provided you with adequate information on what an OT can do in an oncology unit and you enjoyed this week’s blog!

Thanks for reading!

Megan

References:

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2011). The role of occupational therapy in oncology. http://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/AboutOT/Professionals/WhatIsOT/RDP/Facts/Oncology%20fact%20sheet.pdf

OTs in Mental Health Settings

Hi Readers:

This week, I want to talk about yet another area where an occupational therapist can work, which is mental health. Mental health is one of the original areas where occupational therapists began working. Mental health settings where OT may practice can included community mental health centers, homeless and women’s shelters, correctional facilities, after school programs and more. As an OT working in mental health, “the ultimate goal being full participation in community activities” (AOTA). The activities they have in mind are going to school, obtaining a job and living independently. The patients and clients in this particular setting can be of any age and a range of illnesses.

To work in this setting, the occupational therapist is trained to be able to provide mental and physical health and wellness, rehabilitation and recovery support. They receive this training or education through at least one experience in a psychosocial setting. Mental health is one of the leading causes of disabilities in the world and we need healthcare providers who can help these patients live to their fullest potential. Occupational therapists are one of those healthcare providers that can help these individuals create and develop skills in order to achieve their goals of living independently and fully participating in everyday life activities.

Thank you for reading and I hope I provided you with helpful information about occupational therapy in mental health settings.

Megan

References:

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2013). Occupational therapy's role in community mental health.

http://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/AboutOT/Professionals/WhatIsOT/MH/Facts/Community-mental-health.pdf?la=en

OT in Acute Care

Hi Readers:

I have previously discussed occupational therapy jobs in both school and skilled nursing facilities, two very different environments. This week I want to give you some information on a OT setting that is a little in between those two, acute care. “Acute care is an inpatient hospital setting for individuals with a critical medical condition” such as brain or spinal cord injury, progressive diseases and more (AOTA).

As an occupational therapist in this setting, there are a variety of jobs you could be responsible for. The role of the OT is to help with “early mobilization, restoring function, preventing further decline and coordinating care” which involves transition to and discharge from the facility (AOTA). Also, when working in this setting, you get to work with a wide range of patients with different conditions and ages, so there is more diversity in your work. Some of the different areas in the acute care unit that an OT can work in are critical care, neurology, orthopedics, psychiatry, behavioral health and pediatrics. The OT also has to work collaboratively with other health care professionals such as physical therapists, nurses, speech pathologists, and doctors to ensure the best care for their patients.

As an acute care occupational therapist, you have the opportunity to make a big impact on someone’s health and life. You have the opportunity to work with a variety of patients and in diverse units within the facility as well. Hopefully this gave you a little more perspective on what an acute care occupational therapist does!

Thanks,

Megan

References:

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2012). Occupational therapy's role in acute care. http://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/AboutOT/Professionals/WhatIsOT/RDP/Facts/Acute-Care.pdf?la=en

OTs in Nursing Homes

Hi Readers:

Last week, I discussed occupational therapy in a school setting and this week I want to inform you on occupational therapy in a nursing home or skilled nursing facility. In a skilled nursing facility there are adults in the aging community of all different ages and functional levels. Some clients may be permanent residents of the facility or they may just but staying for a short time for rehabilitation after an accident or injury.

The role of the OT in the nursing facility is to work with the client and their family to create a treatment process plan, train the client with the assistive devices, adapt them to new environments, and finally with any mental and behavioral issues. When working with short term clients, main roles include environment modifications, reintegration to normal living, leisure skills/participation and more. When working with long term clients, the OT is involved with functional mobility activities such as bathing or cooking, working on cognitive skills, educating caregivers and more.

The occupational therapists also play a big role in prevention and development programs. Some of these programs include fall prevention, dementia management therapeutic groups and so on. OTs contribute a lot to the aging community and have helped in the process of teaching them to live more independently and how they want as they become older. I hope the information I delivered to you has been beneficial and provided you with what you wanted to know!

Thanks for reading,

Megan

References:

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2015). "Occupational Therapy's Role in Skilled Nursing Facilities." www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/AboutOT/Professionals/WhatIsOT/RDP/Facts/FactSheet_SkilledNursingFacilities.pdf?la=en

School Occupational Therapist

Hi Readers:

Now that you have a better understand of what occupational therapy is, I would like to go more in depth about the different types of occupational therapy jobs one could have! The first one I want to talk about is a school occupational therapist. An OT in the school setting could work with all ages, kindergarten to high school, and even college students!

A school occupational therapist has many roles and duties within their jobs. The central purpose of their jobs is to “support a student’s ability to participate in desired daily school activities” (AOTA). The OT has the opportunity to work with a variety of students. Any regular student may see the OT just because they struggle with waking up in the morning, so they would see the OT before class to do some exercises to wake up! But, the main population of students that see the OT are in the school’s special education program. These students may only have learning disabilities such as Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Dyslexia, but see the OT to help their performance in both school activities and outside of school. Other students in this type of program may be students have mental disabilities such as Autism or Asperger Syndrome, who need more one on one attention to be able to learn everyday skills. The OTs help these students with behavioral and self-help skills, and vocational preparations.  The vocational preparation is more in the high school age range, as the OT tries to teach these students skills that they may use for future jobs. The occupational therapist works collaboratively with the school’s educators, administration and parents. Other faculty members the OT works closely with could be the school’s speech therapist, psychologist, and physical therapist.

As you can see, school occupational therapists have a big role in a student’s success both in school and in life. They help all different age groups and a broad spectrum of students. Hopefully this inform you of what a school OT does or can do!

Thanks for reading,
Megan

References:
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2016). "Occupational Therapy School Setting Fact Sheet." https://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/AboutOT/Professionals/WhatIsOT/CY/Fact-Sheets/School%20Settings%20fact%20sheet.pdf?la=en

What is Occupational Therapy??

Hi readers:

To start, occupational therapy is profession more and more popular, but some people still do not know what it is! Occupational therapists are certified professionals that "help people across the lifespan participate in the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities" (AOTA). These skills they could help a patient learn to do could be as simple as getting dressed or eating if they have some form of a restriction. Occupational therapists work with the fine motor skills while physical therapists work with gross motor skills. Occupational therapists work a variety of patients and in a variety of settings, in which I hope to go into more deatails in other posts.

To become an occupational therapist, one has to obtain a masters degree in occupational therapy. Obviously before that, one has to have a Bachelors degree. Many people receive a general Bachelors of Science degree or a health sciences degree, then go on to graduate school to receives their Masters. However, there are some universities that have a combined undergraduate and graduate program for occupational therapy. Saint Louis University is one of the schools. You spend 4 years as an undergrad and 1 year as a graduate student. After 5 years you would have your Master of Occupational Therapy. Once you have received your degree from an accredited program, you have to pass the NBCOT, National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. After passing the NBCOT you have to apply and pay for a license. OT licenses are per state, so if you wish to practice in more than one state, you need to have more than one license.

Hopefully this information about what occupational therapy is and how to obtain the degrees and license was helpful!

Thanks for reading!
Megan

Work Cited
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2015). "About Occupational Therapy." https://www.aota.org/About-Occupational-Therapy.aspx

Why Create a Blog?

Hi readers:

My name is Megan Cussen and I am a sophomore in the occupational therapy program at Saint Louis University. I am here, creating this blog for a few reasons. The main reason for my blog is because many people have not heard of occupational therapy before or do not know what it entails. It even gets confused for physical therapy sometimes. Another reason I want to create this blog, is to help those who are interested in this particular field of work, learn more about it. Specifically, I will talk about the different types of jobs one could have with a degree in occupational therapy. With the different job areas, comes different work environments which I will discuss along with the particular job. Occupational therapy is a field of work that is on the rise, therefore more people should be aware about what it is! I am someone who is interested in this topic and have the resources to provide you with the information you may want to know! Hopefully you as a reader will learn more about this topic and it guides you towards the right path, whether that is occupation therapy or not. For my next post, I am hoping to talk about what occupational therapy is and the educational background it requires.

Thanks for reading!
Megan