The verdict is ….

If you poll my classmates, some classmates like geriatrics and some like peds, I, on the other hand, am not sure. I like peds because I really like the school setting, the brightness, the colors, and the goal of helping each child to be the best they can be. What makes me nervous about peds is keeping the child/children engaged. If a child does not like you or you are not ‘fun” it is hard to get them to participate in the activity.

Well I meet my two kids; a 5 yo and a 7 yo. They both completed the first activity without problems. It was actually amazing to watch the kids hold the crayons and pencils just like the grasp handout that we got in class. With two children at home I thought I would remember the different stages of development. But I guess it is more objective looking in than when you are trying to raise them. My five yo held the pencil with the immature grasp while my 7yo’s grasp was better but not the mature grasp that I would expect. So all that is taught about development is true!!
Moving on to the second activity was different as well. The 5yo was putting a puzzle together and was able to complete two puzzles. The 7yo played with several different activities that were in the room. What a difference a grade makes! The younger one was content with the one activity and the other was checking out the whole room, LOL.

The session ended for that day and I will say it was fun and engaging. The jury is still, no verdict yet, let’s see what the next session will bring.

How I feel about the kids...

I really did not have any concerns going into the 1st FW, I felt like this would be pretty easy being that I have a child of my own and I have been around kids basically all my life. It wasn't bad but it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be either. The little ones I worked with were cute and made me laugh because as we know kids say the darndest things! I learned in my PEDS class that play can be used as a tool and that it is a child's main occupation. Also that is the best way to try to teach a child something (especially if you want them to remain focused and grasp what you are trying to teach them). I saw that concept play out (no pun intended) during FW. The children were so into coloring and playing games that they had no clue they were being observed and assessed, they didn't even mind pics being taken of their little hands. I also learned (from past experience & class) that environment affects learning and development...it can be in a positive or negative way, but it does affect it. One of the kids I worked with completely shut down when I mentioned siblings, although it was only for a split second it still happened. I did not push the issue or say anything else and she was fine, but what if whatever gets progressively worse and causes her to shut down for longer periods of time? This will surely affect her learning and development. I am looking forward to being able to teach these children skills that will help them become the best student they can be so they can have a sense of accomplishment and be proud of themselves. I am also looking forward to having them help me with my assessment skills. Today I learned that I still am very concerned with helping those that cannot help themselves. My mother told me even as a child I was always "looking out" for those who did not have or could not help themselves, she said when I was in 1st grade I gave away my sweater to a classmate because she didn't have one and when asked why I said "because she don't have one and I have more than one." Again, while working with my little ones in FW I noticed some things that she needed and my immediate thought was "well, I can just bring that when I see her again." But that might not be acceptable so I have to learn to not get so emotionally attached....stay tuned to see if that works out!!

Peds, I'm Not So Sure About This

I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated going into my first pediatric fieldwork. I was concerned about how well the children were going to behave and my ability to make the session fun. Plus, children can be so brutally honest! I learned that when working with children the session must be fun, friendly, focused, flexible, functional and finished, and I got the chance to practice all of these in my first session. I think finishing the session was the most difficult because one of the children in particular did not want to stop, which I was excited and surprised to see. Then, the children had to collect some materials to take with them. I was pleased to see that I had picked an activity that the children actually wanted to work on some more in their free time.

From the previous semesters, I learned that of course I, as an OTAS, make the session therapeutic. I feel like this is especially relevant to pediatrics because a therapy session could look just like play with no therapy. As a parent myself, I can understand why the parents of the children being treated would want an explanation as to how some of the sessions are suppose to be therapeutic. Also, I had to match my personality to the child's personality. I had one older client who was laid back, so I altered my speech and movements to match his style. There was also a little girl who was so excited and energetic, so while I was working with her, I was, too, and it seemed to work well!

I am looking forward to meeting more of the children at this facility. Last time I was there only 4 clients came. Hopefully, I will have a chance to interact with children of all ages. I think it is so interesting to get the kids started on a project and then just watch how they interact with me as well as each other. I would say I'm looking forward to getting to know the children more, but I only have 2 more sessions there, and that would just make me miss them.

I feel good about the way my first session went. Even though there wasn't a big turnout, the children seemed to enjoy the activity and they worked on their fine motor skills, problem solving, crossing the midline and many more skills. I especially feel good about the clients wanting to take materials with them to continue working on the activity and make more. I was worried about this pediatric fieldwork, but I feel good about it now.

The children who I am working with do not have a great deal of money, so my team and I are really trying to focus on low-budget and recycled crafts and activities. I have provided a link to a great site by Disney that has loads of great ideas! Make sure to check out the very bottom of the page. That's where most of the different categories are. This site is awesome because you can choose from so many topics to really tailor a treatment session to exactly what the client needs.

Peds is FUN

Our peds instructor told us on day 1 of class that the #1 rule in working with kids is to make it FUN. I was a bit worried after watching a few videos of treatment sessions & the level of fun they were having. Was I going to be as "lively & fun" as the therapist on the videos, & could I be as patient as she was? Were my kids going to be as "active" as the kids in the videos? I shouldn't have worried so much. My 1st session with the kids at a transitional homeless shelter was fun, & the 3 kids I worked with had lots of fun.

I had to come up with a fine motor hand activity for 5 to 7 years old. The kids filled in an outlined picture of an animal with pieces of tissue paper that they rolled into small balls. At first 1 of the kids didn't want to do the activity because I didn't have a picture of a monkey. But she finally came around after watching the other 2 kids having fun, & after I agreed to help her with her picture of an elephant. 1 of the other kids was a bit hyperactive, but he stayed on task & was very creative when choosing the colors he needed - pink for the cow's utters, brown for the hoofs. They were very fun kids to work with, & I'm looking forward to working with them for 2 more sessions.

In peds class, handwriting was highlighted as a very important milestone for kids, so I watched for any grasp issues the 3 kids might have when they wrote their names on their pictures, but they all had functional grasps of the pen. I'm excited about working with 1 of them tomorrow doing visual & fine motor assessments to see if he/she is developmentally on target. I hope he/she is cooperative....

Transitioning from geriatrics to peds - Geriatrics was more about doing meaningful activities, mostly for ADL independence. The people I worked with were very friendly, but they could be more stubborn than the kids I've worked with... so far. I think it will be easier to come up with more creative activities with kids than with the older people, simply because peds is about having fun.

I feel good about... my 1st session with peds at the transitional homeless shelter. I wasn't sure if, or how, the kids there would be different than the more privileged kids, but I didn't see any differences while I was there. All kids love to have FUN.

Anything is possible...even pediatrics

Jen? Working in pediatrics?

I stepped into Pediatrics this semester with mixed feelings. Many OTs that I have run into in their respective fields have told me stories that they went into school thinking that they always wanted to work in Peds and then they fell in love with Geriatrics or the exact opposite…they NEVER wanted to work with kids and that is exactly where they ended up. All of them said…just don't be close-minded when you're in school...you never know what opportunity will come to you and what you will enjoy doing until you learn and experience the profession. I took those words to heart and decided to keep my mind open to any possibility. Well, the more I learn about Peds, the more I can see myself working in geriatrics haha. But the semester isn't over and I'll keep on giving it a fair shot.

Last week we started FW at a site for transitional homeless families at their Youth Enrichment Night. My initial concerns were that the children would be wild and untamable! I was in charge of the 2-4 year olds and I envisioned them running all over the room and me going crazy not being able to handle the chaos. We planned as much as we could plan, but still didn’t have a good idea what kids would show up. It ended up working wonderfully! I didn’t have any 2-4 year olds show up, so I teamed up with the 8 and older group to do finger knitting. It was such a good experience and the children were so well behaved. They were so excited to learn a new trade and were really good at it also (which is always helpful). My classmate was so prepared and brought samples, written directions and demonstrated the initial steps for the project. Preparation for this activity was key!

Another thing I noticed was how important figuring out the child's learning styles where ...especially as they learned something difficult and something they have never been exposed to. The particular child I worked with was struggling with the sequencing and direction. I made up a saying for when he got to the tricky part - I kept repeating the same "around the back...up and over the finger". He kept saying it out loud and his own VC's helped him finish the project! It was really awesome to see my VC's turn into his main strategy for making the project work for him.

I’m really looking forward to the next 2 weeks. We are doing some fine motor/handwriting screens and assessments that will highlight some red flags for the children to work on. We are hoping to screen each child and leave some type of assessment on each of them before we leave. The organizer requested this before we began working with the children and it would really help her out with planning curriculum for Youth Enrichment Nights.

I felt good about our activities and our initial rapport with the children. I hope we can a least screen and/or assess each child for areas where they might need help with fine motor and hand writing before we leave. Even though we are only there for 3 weeks, I hope we can leave a little bit of an impact.

Peds Party!

Part 1
I was excited to finally start peds.  That is where I expect to feel most comfortable and most useful.  Sometimes in geriatrics, I did not feel exceptionally useful, mostly because the client I thought I was going to have was not the client that I ended up treating 80% of the time, so I always felt a little unprepared, but this is peds.  School, right?  Everyone is expected to be there every day.  Whew!  Time for a change ...

I had no real concerns today, because I knew the planned part of the session was going to be run by my instructor.  We were just going to observe pencil grasps and coloring/writing styles and then play games with the kids that used fine motor skills.

Coming into this semester, I did not realize how complicated writing and coloring were.  My own children never had trouble in this area, so it all seemed easy and natural.  After a class on handwriting skills and problems, I had a completely different take on writing, what students are expected vs capable of doing at age 5, and the perceptual problems that can go along with writing.  As I watched the children write their name, I could sort of get an idea of what they were doing cognitively.  They were having to visualize the letters in their name from their memory.  These letters were no where around for them to look at.  There was a large variation as to how well the kids could do this.  Some seemed to struggle with it, while others looked as if they had attained the skill a long time ago.  Also, in class we learned the developmental ages at which it is typical for children to learn to draw certain line patterns.  The student that I had, X, could not "draw" an X correctly.  It would seem that drawing an "X" would be just as easy as a "+", but, in fact, the skill to draw and "X" comes a full 6 months after the skill to draw a "+".  This knowledge was reinforced by what I saw in fieldwork with "X."

In my experience in working with children, if you treat them with respect and in a positive attitude, most of the time, you will get the exact thing back.  When I met my client this week, I talked to both children like I would like to be spoken to, not like babies and not like rocket scientists.  I tried to let them make most of the choices (within choice sets that I had given) and respected what they wanted to do, though maybe it wasn't my preference.  I was met with 2 sweet, very respectful and positive children who really wanted to please whomever was watching them or looking at their work.  I feel like they did their best, and I tried to do mine, too.

In the next 2 sessions, I am looking forward to really interacting with these 2 children and helping them with their school skills, so that they can have a more productive and fun school year.

Something helpful that I learned today is that there are different ways to accomplish a better pencil grip than just the fancy tools that are sold in education supply catalogs. Doing simple things like making crayons shorter, using fatter pencils and using other common objects to be held under their arm or in the fingers that are not used for writing are lots of times just as effective to make grasps better or writing/coloring easier for the client.

Peds....finally!

Today was our 1st day of peds. FW! I've been waiting for this since day 1. I was super excited about it, not nervous at all which was a nice change. My only concern was what if I got a child that didn't want to do anything? I wasn't all that concerned about it b/c most kids can pick at least one thing they like to do. Luckily I got 2 very sweet and easily amused children, also a nice change from geriatrics. When I got my first kid, D she ran out of her room, gave me a hug and held my hand all the way to pick up the other kids and down to the cafeteria. She was excited about what we were going to do and was excited that I would come back next week. The connection was effortless. My boy didn't give me a hug but I could still tell that he had fun. He asked me when it was time to go if I had fun, I forgot that he was the teacher and I was his assistant.

A few weeks ago my child came in for peds. assessment day. Our instructor gave her some of the crayons from Handwriting Without Tears. They are these teeny tiny crayons. When I looked at them I was like there is no way these help handwriting. I tried them out with her but she didn't like them b/c she couldn't use her fisted grasp. D was coloring her picture, she didn't have a bad pinch but it wasn't great either. I would say it was close to adaptive tripod. Our instructor came over broke her crayon in half and gave it back to her, now she suddenly had the perfect tripod pinch, it was pretty impressive. That was the most interesting thing I learned today, definitely something I need to remember.

Something that happened today that reinforced something that I learned was that the grasp pattern for holding a pencil really does matter, even for coloring. Like I said above I didn't think D's grasp was awful but even her coloring improved once she moved into tripod grasp. Something that I've learned from past experience is that there is a huge difference between kindergarteners and 1st graders. This was evident by how much faster the 1st graders completed their group activity and how their type of play was more creative and imaginative than the kindergartners. I think the big difference explains why some kids are held back in kindergarten. I'm glad we got kids from different grades, its nice to be able to compare.

What I am most looking forward to is seeing my children grow and improve. The turnover rate in geriatrics FW was really high, which is super great but, I didn't really get to see anyone improve. I know they did b/c they got discharged but it would have been nice to see the week by week improvement. I guess that's what I can look forward to for FW 2 since I will be there all day, every day for 8 weeks.

All in all, I was right & I'm looking forward to seeing my kids next week!

Geriatrics to Pediatrics

Making the transition from Geriatrics to Pediatrics is interesting to say the least. From life at it’s end to life at it’s beginning. I remember the faces of the elderly as they welcomed us on fieldwork, and realized that the children felt just the same, happy that we were there, and glad to have the attention as we learned how to help them.

I was only concerned that the children wouldn’t be thrilled to have us working with them, that they might resist our efforts to help them, or feel like they were singled out for needing help, for not being “normal”. That can be a terrible feeling when you are a child. I was pleased at their response and felt so good about their positive attitudes. They were so agreeable, cooperative and sweet, and I noticed as we worked/played with them that everyone was smiling and having fun.

The lesson we previously learned, that therapy for children must be through play, was demonstrated quite clearly this first day as we were able to observe the handwriting grasp patterns that we had learned as as they did a fun activity. Also really interesting, though not surprising, was the contrast between the ages, the increase in ability from age 5 to 6 was quite noticeable.

Having raised two children as a stay at home mom, interacting with the children was familiar territory to me and the memories of the thousands of hours of previous play time made my interactions comfortable and natural. I really am looking forward to helping my two students improve their writing skills through play and will make every effort to make each week as fun as the first.

Pediatrics

What a great day! We went to an elementary school to work with children who are in kindergarten and first grade. I was a little nervous about going even though the school system is where I want to work when I graduate. I love children and the honesty they bring to life. The boys I worked with were great! They were not shy and they were eager to do the tasks. We learned in class that sometimes it takes children a while to open up to strangers, but not these boys. I have worked as a substitute before and I have learned that most children want to please and most just want someone to pay attention to them. These boys were just a year apart but the difference a year makes was evidenced by the way they wrote their names and the way they used scissors and crayons. I feel good about being able to go back and work with them for two more sessions. I feel like we have already established a connection and trust with each other.

Back in the School Environment

As we visited our Kindergarten and first grade students this week, I was reminded of just how much I enjoy these little people! Although there was considerable difference between the two children, they both brought their own personalities and abilities, and couldn't have been cuter!
As we have learned in our Ped's. class, what seems like a short amount of time (6 months), can have a huge impact on the abilities and understanding of these little folks. I saw a vast difference between the two students, as my kindergarten student could not spell or write his name, and J (1st grade) was off and running, and wanting to do more.
As I have known prior to this semester, kids , even at their young age, need exposure to simple things. Parks, animals, books, crayons, letters and numbers are just a few examples of things that may make a huge difference in the lives of kids. Common (simple) knowledge is so important, even for a 5 year old. Having the ability to write one's name or identify certain letters can positively impact a kindergarten student. I do believe that even though S has not had much of this type of exposure before entering school, he will be able to work with his teacher to learn and improve on writing and identifying letters and numbers. What a great feeling that will be for him!
For the next two sessions, I am looking forward to working with these two boys again. I am curious to see how they will handle the assessments. I am reminded of the innocence, and at the same time, the capacity that each of the boys hold.
I feel good about being back in an environment that I am comfortable in, after having spent several years in the kindergarten classroom. I am encouraged to think that as an OTAS, I may be able to make a difference in the lives of our little people.

Pediatric FW.....Day One

Today, during Peds FW we visited kindergarten and 1st grade students. Going into today's session was pretty easy for me. I was just in an elementary school last week, so I was excited and comfortable walking in today. There is always a bit of concern, "will my kid like me?, will I know the right things to say and do?". These kind of feelings come with the territory during any FW experience. I have actually learned more than I thought this semester. I noticed right away that B was hooking her arm and hand while writing. It was easy to identify and I continued to observer her grip and writing style. I learned how to look for something and figure out if something is dysfunctional or not. Kids are always on the go and you just better be ready. Children can also be very tiring, even when they are not your own!! Once again today I realized how important therapeutic use of self comes into play during any type of therapy sessions. Children are no different than adults when it comes to therapeutic use of self and perfecting my therapeutic use of self will benefit me greatly in my future career. For example, I had to connect with B right away. I did this by getting down on her level, keeping eye contact, and listening to her. I am really looking forward to working with B to help her correct her over exaggerated hook grasp. I hope to gain insight into why she does this and how easy or difficult it will be to help her correct it. I am also looking forward to watching my other classmates and how they use their therapeutic use of self. I have two boys and have my own style but to watch and see other at work, I think might help me with my work. I am also looking forward to performing an assessment on B and learning how to coordinate my time while helping her have fun!! I really wish I understood Spanish. I think this would help me connect with B and other in my career. I see more and more spanish speaking children in the schools and this would be a great way to connect with these children.