Occupational Therapy: A Milestone in My Life
Samantha Morell Keiser University
Occupational Therapy: A Milestone in My Life
The profession of occupational therapy, specifically pediatric occupational therapy, has captured my interest. I believe that I understand children and I can establish meaningful connections with them. Children who have experienced comas or physical disabilities such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) need occupational therapy. I have always known that I wanted to do something meaningful with my life that included pediatrics, but I never knew exactly what I wanted to do with children until I went through my own trauma.
In 2012, due to a rare case of pneumonia, I went into respiratory arrest, and the doctors put me into an induced coma. I contracted this pneumonia during one of my senior year trips in high school. I had many expectations about how this time in my life would be fun and wonderful, but it ended up being extremely difficult. This
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For children, spending less time in recovery after coma is essential, it’s not sufficient enough to recover from a coma, but it is crucial that patients suffer no neurological issues (Karma & Rawat, 2006). Occupational therapy is important for an early and speedy recovery in order for the patient to be treated with the appropriate methods of healing. A physical disability such as TBI, “encompasses a wide range of severity from mild to severe” (Powell, 2016, p.1). Since TBI sustains a wide spectrum of injuries, occupational therapy has different methods that can be useful in completing the patient’s treatment. According to Janet Powell, the main injuries for TBI are falling, car accidents, or blunt force trauma to the head (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015, as cited by Powell, 2016). Patients suffering from TBI can be medically induced into a coma depending on the severity of their
Occupational Therapy is a therapy that blankets everything people do in their lives. Such a broad field can be very difficult to define. Unlike Physical Therapy who people instantly identify as a field that get people walking. In the past the vision of the field was broader. “In 2004 The Scenario were developed” a structure created with the Occupational Therapy framework.
and intrigued by the mind-body connection as well as the importance of human activity and occupation in maintaining mental and physical well-being. At the same time, my desire to work directly with people and be able to make a positive and lasting change to their lives by empowering them and helping discover their strengths and confidence in themselves to achieve their goals, led me to a realization that a career in occupational therapy would be a perfect fit for me. To me occupational therapy is a dynamic, rewarding, challenging, and inspiring field where I can fully realize my skills and knowledge. Having always been a firm believer in the patient-centric approach, I am passionate about providing excellent service to patients by improving their performance, preventing illness and disability and promoting adaptation to life
INTRO/BACKGROUND Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative condition in which an individual may experience executive dysfunction, impaired memory, depression, apathy, poor impulse control, suicidal tendencies, and ultimately dementia, has come to attention in recent years (Baugh et al. 2012). Currently the disease is not diagnosable until the individual has passed away and symptoms often mimic those of other neurodegenerative conditions. With that being said, CTE is a problem that has no way of being detected, let alone a cure. As CTE is being more extensively researched, it has been found that the cause is much broader than documented concussions. The origins of CTE began with the boxing world and a term called “punch drunk” which referred to the symptoms observed in boxers, hypothesized to be a result of the repeated blows sustained throughout a career.
Severe – The individual will lose consciousness for more than 24 hours and may need life support machinery to help them breathe, the brain may starve from oxygen and cause injury. This can lead to loss of mobility, communication, talking and eating and drinking and may mean they become nil by mouth. Discuss initial effects of acquired brain injury on the individual The initial effects of acquired brain injury on the individual can upset, confuse, frustrate and anger them as they may struggle to focus, achieve, do and say things that they could easily before.
Occupational therapy provides assistance for those who are in need of assistance with daily living and work skills. These specialists work with people of various demographics to handle normal life challenges in a safe and healthy manner. How does occupational therapy work? The therapist determines what is important to the patient, and the obstacles preventing the patient from enjoying these aspects of life.
Care of the patient with mild traumatic brain injury: AANN and ARN Clinical Practice Guideline Series. Retrieved from
Among handicap impairment, traumatic brain injury, or TBI, leaves vets “unemployable” due to their condition. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs states that “after an injury, a number of symptoms arise including headaches, dizziness/problems walking, fatigue, irritability, memory problems and problems paying attention” all of which affect a veterans work
I am currently working towards receiving my masters at Tuskegee University where I will graduate in five years majoring in Occupational therapy. Choosing the major occupational therapy made it easier to attend Tuskegee because of its excellence in molding Occupational therapist. The University’s program has a graduating rate at 76 percent. Practitioners of Occupational therapy have the option to work in wide variety of settings including acute care hospitals, rehabilitation centers, psychiatric hospitals, community mental health facilities, schools, nursing homes, and a few others. I will personally like to work with children and elderly people.
Occupational therapy saved my family. Growing up with a sister with severe spastic cerebral palsy to include both cognitive and functional deficits, life existed on a day to day, hour by hour basis, as we were unsure of challenges each moment would bring. This all changed the moment occupational therapy brought quality of life back to me and my family. My very personal experience defined my purpose to become an occupational therapist, to pay the gift given my family forward.
Senator Carper, Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I am the student liaison to the American Occupational Therapy Association, (AOTA), for the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. I also am an active voter and representative of your Delaware constituency as I have lived in Delaware my entire life. In fact, I was on the Brandywine YMCA swim team with your son, Christopher. My time spent at the YMCA of Delaware peaked my interests to work with special need’s populations, leading me to the track of becoming an occupational therapist.
Renner could not walk, and she needed to learn again. She said that waking up after you have a head injury is a very distressing thing that a person can experience. You have certain tasks that you took for granted before that have now become difficult. In addition, some of the things that used to be your greatest strengths can turn into a huge weakness after a TBI.
Patients with brain injuries may require rehabilitation after being stabilized and out of immediate danger. The level and scope of rehabilitation depend on the severity of the deficits that a person has. For example, some people may have deficits in their physical majority and will have to regain strength and balance. In other cases, the rehabilitation may be needed to address cognitive deficits. Often a team of medical professionals specializing in different disciplines to provide a comprehensive treatment plan for the patient is needed.
From an early age, I can remember taking a special interest in medicine, because of seeing my mother reach out and help so many types of people with so many levels of disabilities. Her actions and job has inspired me greatly in wanting to study in the medical field and hopefully eventually becoming a physician. Growing up, my Mother, an Occupational Therapist, owned her owned practice, when I was younger, I can remember trying to help my mother and other medical professionals that worked for her with small tasks, like help cleaning up after the children in wheelchairs or helping children, with low motor skills, coloring pictures. My mother’s job as an Occupational Therapist is to develop, recover, and improve the skills of injured and disabled patients for daily activities that we would easily take for grant, like taking a shower or walking upstairs. I believe having a career in the medical field would undoubtedly would give me an immeasurable amount of satisfactory, because of my desire of wanting to help people with their health complication.
Volunteering at McKenna Farms Therapy Services I was able to observe pediatric occupational therapy sessions. Not only did I get to observe Occupational Therapy sessions, but I observed Hippotherapy sessions too. What I found so unique about McKenna Farms is that they had Speech Therapist, Physical Therapist, and Occupational Therapist all together at one clinic. This allowed me to witness how the different types of therapy fit together and how the therapist would collaborate to find the best way to treat the children. My favorite part was finding ways to communicate with the kids.
My initial impression of the profession was that this was a career that assisted individuals with ADL’S. As a CNA, I occasionally interacted with the OT practitioners at my place of employment and I assisted some of them with helping patients engage in activities such as dressing, bathing, and feeding. As a CNA, I assist patients with these things as well and it generated an interest in the OT profession. Initially, my beliefs and understanding of the profession was centered around the physical activities that can be performed in an occupational setting included but not limited to, the amount of weight that can be lifted, the type of movement a patient can perform comfortably, the part of the body that is used more often, and how much walking or lifting that can be exerted. These were my exact thoughts of my impression while completing the occupational profile in my first writing class of the program. After the completion of the assignment, I received feedback from the instructor and learned that I was incorrect in my thinking.