Peds. Vs. Geriatrics. Not THAT much different, I guess...

Today I helped out one of our instructors at a summer camp class that she spent the week running. It beat the geriatrics FW by a million degrees. The kids were age 9-12, not my favorite age group but it beats the alternative. It was so much fun! I had no problem jumping in. If I had to rate my comfort level from 1-10 with 10 being totally uncomfortable, I'd rate myself a 1. I wish that I could say the same for FW. The camp class focused on fiber arts. These kids loved it! The attitudes were so positive and fun. Unlike our attitude as we learned weaving, knitting and sewing in OT Media 1, mainly because at the end of the day we were being graded on our projects. It was amazing to see what these kids had done since only Monday! No one even wanted to stop for lunch. My favorite were the duct tape projects. This one little girl made a skirt, a pair of flip flops, a wallet and something else that I am forgetting. This other little girl made a wallet with 20 pockets in it and another little girl made two pairs of shorts! I was seriously impressed! Being there made me forget how much I loved being a camp counselor and volunteering at camps, schools and after school programs. I stopped doing all of that after I graduated high school. The kids I work with are 0-4, I forgot about how much fun "big kids" are!

So I've been thinking on how I can be more successful out on FW and how I can start to enjoy it. I would love to like old people as much as I like kids, I think at some point I'll get there...hopefully. So basically I'm just going to pretend that these old people are kids. I don't use a baby voice with kids anyways so I think that I can pretend that they are kids without treating them as kids. Also, old people will most likely like the same therapeutic activities/crafts that kids do, so coming up with treatment plans should be easier. For example, a strength building activity is a strength building no matter who you are. I found a website with OT activities for kids, but with some tweeking they could be appropriate for anyone! I think the "therapy snowman" would be enjoyed by geriatrics. It seems kid-ish but they could use it to decorate their room. What I like about this specific project is like it works on B UE use and strength, which seems like a common goal for everyone's patients. Anyways...we'll see how this plan works on Tuesday!