Therapeutic Relationship

A therapeutic relationship is known as the interaction between an occupational therapist and a client. This type of relationship involves helping the client achieve their desired goals. It is more about the client in this type of relationship than yourself. Having a good relationship with a client has a huge benefit in the OT process and success of intervention and treatment. Trust is key factor in developing a successful therapeutic relationship. If the client trusts the occupational therapy practitioner, they will more likely open up and feel comfortable with sharing personal information that may shape the intervention process. OTs try several different techniques to strengthen therapeutic relationships: empathy, verbal communication, active listening, empowerment, or nonverbal communication.

Culturally Aware

Culture is considered the connection to values, beliefs, and spirituality. It is the ability to interact with people from all different walks of life and work towards a common goal. This is important in the field of occupational therapy because it allows the practitioner to meet the client where they are. By being culturally aware, you are showing the client that they are not just another client, but taking extra steps to a personal level. Occupational therapy practitioners learn culture through many different settings. These can include observation, practicing, conferences, continuing educational courses, OT programs, and ect. Culture is important because you are able to break stereotypes/preconceived thoughts by getting to know the individual.

Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig was one of the first famous people to be diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). ALS is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig disease because of his social status and popularity. ALS took a complete toll on Lou's body and life. He was diagnosed with this disorder at 36. He was a professional baseball player for the Yankees and once diagnosed he retired from the game. He was given only 3 years to live post diagnosis, and he died at the age of 39. He struggled with slowing down his lifestyle because he was use to moving at a very fast pace. Lou would benefit from OT to optimize strength and ROM to carry out ADLs. Symptoms of ALS progressively get worse as time goes on.

Autism in Love

When deciding what to do my next neuro note on, I had no idea what topic I wanted to dive into because everything seemed so interesting! However, I decided to look more into depth of a topic we haven’t discussed in class yet: AUTISM. My second neuro note is on the movie Autism in Love. I chose this movie because I am a hopeless romantic, honestly. I am in love with LOVE! I wanted to gain knowledge and see how the romance life was for individuals who are on the spectrum.

            Autism in Love is a very eye-opening documentary about four adults who are on the spectrum and their experiences with romance and love. The movie shows how love and meaningful relationships are important for all people. In the movie, we learn that each person had a difficult time with love in their own way because of autism. The common issue that each person had was communication. The four individuals struggled with expressing how they really felt. The movie displayed the challenges but yet the beauty when finding true love. A relationship with someone on the spectrum is definitely possible!

            As an occupational therapy student, I enjoyed this movie for several different reasons. I gained a better understand of individuals who may be on the spectrum. People with autism are aware and they understand everything around them. It is important that as an OT, we have patience with clients who may be on the spectrum. These individuals might have a difficult time expressing themselves and communicating with us, but they are conscience of everything. In addition, I learned that love and meaningful relationships are good for everyone (people with or with a disability). As an OT, I must also understand that a client might have mental issues such as depression because they don’t have a significant other. In the movie, one of the adults were ashamed to be on the spectrum and felt that was the reason why he didn’t have a successful relationship. He was never happy and comfortable with himself because of it. This should be something that OTs should be aware of.

To further my knowledge, I decided to learn more about autism and the spectrum by looking at journals and articles online. I recommend this movie to all health care professionals, not just occupational therapist, because it really shows how we should want out clients to make the most of their time and live past their disabilities.

Fuller, M. (2015). Autism in Love [Streaming video]. Retrieved from https://www.netflix.com/watch/80050160?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C0%2C6a73aa69cb88f1e49551d089555b3caca8b5271e%3A91c3add31c85c71b40aeda639977245cec86901e

Don't Ignore the Signs. Mental Health is Just as Important.

             As I am sitting here amazzzzzed by all of the different emerging areas of practice one stuck out the most to me. Due to the mass amount of tragedies that have been going on in the world lately, it seems that mental health plays an important fact in most. The emerging area that I am most interested in is Mental Health. In the United States, one in every four adults have a diagnosable mental health problem in any given year. However, fewer than half get treatment for it. Mental health is often overlooked and taken lightly until something major occurs. It normally results in death of the person or others. I feel that this emerging area is important because a great number of people are suffering from mental health illness and the signs often go overlooked. Many people with mental health issues remain silent and the issues just builds up inside of them. This is mainly because practitioners do not know how to deal with mental health other than medicating, and individuals lack proper coping skills. As occupational therapy practitioners, it is our job to help ALL people to get back to doing activities that they enjoy including people who may be depressed, ect. We can provide interventions such as peer support groups or sensory approaches to these individuals.  I feel that this should be an emerging specialty area because training is definitely needed to learn how to deal with those clients and provide them with the best services.

          The emerging area of Mental Health relates to AOTA's Vision 2025 because the goal is to maximize health, well-being, and quality of life for all people. We can't just overlook a person because they have a mental illness and categorize them. As occupational therapy practitioners, it is our duty to serve our clients. By targeting this area, we will be one step closer in AOTA's Vision 2025.

Parkinson's and Poppa

Parkinson's disease cannot be diagnosed, you just have to rule out all of the other diseases! Sarah's case presentation on her grandfather Bob describes how PD effected his life and their family. Bob loved to be around family, joke around, go fishing, and gamble. Once diagnosed with PD, all of that started to come to an end. He had difficulty walking, tying knots, and remembering things. He started to received occupational therapy in his later stages; however, they wish he would have started getting it early. The OT help with his balance and walking. The main takeaway that I got from the presentation is that PD took a huge toll on everyone's life not just his (family and friends). It is heartbreaking to see your love ones go through something like that.