Time For Reflection

Only four months ago we started working our Peds semester. I truthfully can say that I enjoyed every single interaction I had with the children on both my FW assignments. The first assignment was a little stilted because we had to do evals and really, with no previous experience, we just muddled through that. I honestly felt a little unsure about myself working as an OTA with kids those first few weeks. I think mainly because I had so much OT Peds “stuff” to learn. My second assignment was much better. I got to work and interact one-on-one with an OT in the school who had 30+ years experience and she was just an encyclopedia of knowledge and ideas. She let me share my ideas with her and we happily worked together with the kids. I loved the hands on, and observing the kids throughout was a real eye opener. I feel like not only my knowledge, but my confidence increased from the beginning to the end of the semester.

What I learned this semester is that kids are very open to learning, especially if you make it FUN and also that so many developmental issues can be corrected with good OT help. When I saw what the OTs do with the kids and then heard the OT tell me about how many kids she was “discharging” from OT, the reality of the success of OT intervention really hit home.
In the future I will apply the idea that OT can be made interesting for anyone at any level with some creativity and imagination, and also that we really can make a big difference in people’s lives - a fact that makes me really happy. It has also helped me understand my 3 year old grandson a bit better. (He needs a lot of heavy proprioception to calm him down). The picture above is of him and his "Papa P" working on his fine motor skills.

My “aha moments” came when I did my own treatment plan with a group of about ten 3-4yr olds, one at a time. As I upgraded and downgraded and adapted the same activity for each child, I realized that I was doing it quite easily and naturally and at that moment, I felt like all that I had learned previously “clicked”. My second moment on the surface probably would have looked to most people, quite innocuous, but the importance of the moment really struck me. I was watching circle time in a classroom of developmentally delayed children, when a boy with Autism who never speaks, and rarely show emotion, responds to others or makes eye contact, saw the OT sit down on the floor beside him. He twisted himself around to put his face right in front of her and then smiled this huge smile at her, staying there until she responded with a huge smile and greeting. I think the teacher and I nearly fell off our chairs in shock, but I realized that whatever the OT had done in the past to reach this boy, had in some way gotten through to him to make him want to connect with her... it was a beautiful moment. I felt really proud to be a future OTA at that moment. :)