Learn about different practice settings from real occupational therapists practicing in the field!
Pediatrics
Occupational therapists can work with children in areas including early intervention, school-based practice, mental health, transitions, and sensory integration. |
Julie Robinson
Where do you practice occupational therapy? Integrated Center for Child Development (ICCD)
How many years have you been an occupation therapy practitioner? 26 What is the role of occupational therapy in your area of practice? To work with children directly and to provide education to families regarding self-regulation, sensory processing, the developmental progression of motor skills, and the factors that contribute to the completion of daily functional tasks. Parent education is a very important role to ensure follow through of intervention. What is your client population like? I work with children with a variety of disabilities and challenges, including ASD, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, behavioral dysregulation, anxiety, motor delays, apraxia, and other social skill weaknesses. I also target areas such as writing skills and ADLs (activities of daily living). What is an example of a typical treatment/intervention session? 30 minutes in a sensory gym doing less structured, play based treatment, discussion of arousal and engine speeds, teaching coping strategies to manage overload, encouragement of participation and play with peers. After that, we usually follow up with 15 mins of table work that includes fine motor activities, writing, feeding intervention, and other activities to target executive functions (attention, multi-tasking, problem solving, planning, etc.). How has your area of practice changed over time? I rely more heavily on parent education as time goes on, because it is an effective way to ensure that what is taught in therapy is maintained into the future. What do you find most meaningful about your work? Progress and changing the lives of a whole family unit is incredibly inspiring to me! Knowing that we are making a difference with self-esteem, behavior, and motor skills to allow children better access to play and education is powerful! What are some of your meaningful occupations? Therapist, parent, educator, leisure / sport activities, music, dog owner. Sarah Maust
Where do you practice occupational therapy? Perkins School for the Blind
What is your area of practice? Pediatrics and youth with multiple disabilities. What is the typical age range of your clients? 3-22 years old How many years have you been an occupation therapy practitioner? 5 years What is the role of occupational therapy in your area of practice? In my current areas of practice, the occupational therapist helps deaf and blind children and youth with multiple disabilities to be able to participate and engage in a wide variety of ADLs and IADLs as they occur in the school and residential setting. Goals and objectives are student focused and student driven. What is your client population like? My client population is primarily Deaf-blind students with or without multiple additional disabilities between the ages of 3-22. My students are working on skills that range from reaching for a switch to access the world, motor planning to tie a shoe, signing their name in cursive, sorting textures for pre-braille skills, and learning skills to support them in their vocational/work activities classes. What is an example of a typical treatment/intervention session? The treatment session structure can vary greatly based on the needs of the student and the setting that the session is taking place in. For example, a session that takes place in the therapy room looks different than a session where I am embedding OT into the classroom activity to best support participation. In the therapy room, the session often starts with a sensory or preparatory activity followed by 1-3 occupation based activities, and finishing with activity clean up and "choice time" for students to have a few minutes to choose a preferred toy or activity. For example, swing time or playing with music or vibrating toy. How do you expect your area of practice to change in the future? I think treatment of the Deaf-blind population will change as we learn more about the sensory system, gain the use of new technology, and as the medical field continues to be able to save and support people with extremely complex medical conditions and syndromes. What do you find most meaningful about your work? The moment when a student "gets it" and they are proud of themselves. I was working with a student in cooking class a few weeks ago, and he was able to coordinate using one hand to stabilize a bowl and the other hand to hold a spoon and stir its contents. It took about 6 months for him to be able to do so independently. He was smiling and giving the thumbs up when he finished. What are some of your meaningful occupations? Running, yoga, writing, listening to music, spending time with friends and family, playing with my cat, travel, my work, doing crafts, and cooking. |
Acute Care
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Lauren Cassel
Where do you practice occupational therapy?
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA What is your area of practice? Acute Care What is the typical age range of your clients? 18-90 How many years have you been an occupation therapy practitioner? 8 months What is the role of occupational therapy in your area of practice? Occupational therapy in acute care is a consult service. We mainly perform evaluations of clients functional abilities and assist with discharge planning. What is your client population like? When I was hired back in March, I was trained to float throughout the hospital to all the inpatient units. This includes general medicine, trauma, orthopedics, oncology, and neurology. I work with clients of all ages. In a typical day, I see 5-6 patients. What is an example of a typical treatment/intervention session? Due to the nature of acute care, I typically see a patient once on evaluation, create a potential treatment plan should they stay, and determine a safe discharge plan. The evaluation includes obtaining an occupational profile, objective information such as ADL performance, cognition, functional mobility, strength, and range of motion, and then my assessment, which includes discharge recommendations. One specific type of evaluation that the medical team often requests is a home safety evaluation. In this case, I include home safety questions such as what the client would do in a medical emergency if they were home alone, medication management, and more in-depth cognitive and functional assessment. The combination of my objective testing and clinical reasoning aids in my discharge recommendation. I also collaborate with the physical therapist, social worker, case manager, and medical team to determine the most appropriate discharge plan. How has your area of practice changed over time? My colleagues have pointed out that one major change that has occurred in our hospital over time is the respect and appreciation other teams have for our evaluations and discharge recommendations. What do you find most meaningful about your work? The interactions with my clients on a day to day basis is most meaningful to me. No one likes being in the hospital especially when they feel sick, tired, and lonely. When I can put a smile on someone's face or get them to laugh at a silly joke, that's what make it worth it. What are some of your meaningful occupations? In my free time, I enjoy doing yoga both at a studio and in my apartment. One day, I would like to get certified as a yoga instructor. I also love spending time with family and friends, specifically my fiancée. We are newly engaged and will be jumping full force into wedding planning soon! What are your thoughts about the future of occupational therapy? I am currently pursuing my post-professional OTD through BU, and I find it exciting that the profession will be moving toward all entry level doctorate programs in the coming years. This will continue to increase occupational therapists' credibility as a profession as we will be seen as equals with other professionals we work closely with on a daily basis. Katie RowlensonWhere do you practice occupational therapy?
Boston, Massachusetts What is your area of practice? Acute Care What is the typical age range of your clients? 18-100 years old How many years have you been an occupation therapy practitioner? 4 years What is the role of occupational therapy in your area of practice? In the acute care setting, we evaluate, treat, and progress patients in order for them to become independent in their daily activities. We work as part of the interdisciplinary team to assist with discharge planning, whether or not the patient is going home or to rehab. We also complete training with families and caregivers in order to assist patients with transfers, self-care activities, and instrumental activities of daily living. What is your client population like? The patient population ranges from patients who have experienced poly-traumas, complex medical diagnoses, upper extremity disorders such as fractures or tendon injuries, patients with altered mental status or cognitive impairments, and neurological disorders. What is an example of a typical treatment/intervention session? We use relevant occupation-based activities in order to re-train or progress patients to become independent again. We have the patients complete self-care activities such as upper body or lower body dressing while they are seated at the edge of the bed or in the chair. Another example of a treatment session is working on dynamic standing balance at the sink during grooming tasks. We also incorporate adaptive tools as needed for modified dressing techniques, such as a sock aid, reacher, or dressing stick. How has your area of practice changed over time? At our facility, we are starting to see new and unique surgeries, such as the lymph node transplant to an upper extremity. This has created a new opportunity for teaching and educating these patients about how to care for their upper extremity and complete daily activities after surgery. I expect that we will continue to have a role with future patients after similar upper extremity surgeries. What do you find most meaningful about your work? I really enjoy teaching patients modified techniques for completing their daily activities so that they can feel independent again. What I find most meaningful is when I can make a difference in the lives of my patients and help them feel confident in their skills, whether it be putting their shoes on independently or being able to walk to the kitchen for simple meal preparation. What are some of your meaningful occupations? Sports (field hockey, skiing, ice skating, running) and spending time with family and friends. What are your thoughts about the future of occupational therapy? I feel that the future of occupational therapy will focus on the continuation of evidence-based practice in order to support our interventions. There is a lot of wonderful research in the effectiveness of various interventions, and I hope we will continue to look to the research to guide our practice. |