OTAC and Magic and Rose Floats, Oh My!

October 28, 2015
by Ariel

Getting Involved What are OS/OT?

Last weekend, I headed to Sacramento for the annual OTAC Conference. This conference, put on by the Occupational Therapy Association of California, is an opportunity for OTs and OT students to spend a weekend immersing themselves in the world of occupational therapy. Through its wide array of courses, symposiums, special speakers, and after hours parties, the OTAC experience always reinvigorates me and adds new perspective to the work we do.

One of my favorite parts of conference this year was listening to the keynote address. Our speaker, Kevin Spencer, gave an impassioned speech about the power of arts-integrated approaches to promote functional and social skills development. His intervention, Healing of Magic, uses the act of learning and teaching magic tricks to help patients regain lost physical skills while increasing motivational levels and self esteem. His unique intervention is a testament to the level of creativity that occupational therapists can incorporate into their interventions!

Check out this video of Kevin Spencer doing his thing!

Another awesome part of conference was participating in USC’s efforts to get Occupational Therapy a float in this year’s Rose Parade! During some down time, my classmates and I filmed an Ice-bucket-challenge-inspired video, in which we informed the public of our campaign, which will help support OT’s Centennial Vision of getting occupational therapy widely recognized and globally connected. We’ve pledged, as a department, to donate $2,017 to forward our goal. And we’ve challenged Boston University to do the same. Let the OT Rose Parade Challenge BEGIN!

When we weren’t at conference, my friends and I took advantage of Sacramento and the fall season by visiting a pumpkin patch! As someone who had never been to one before, I didn’t know what to expect. To our surprise, we found a sensory experience on our adventure we hadn’t even expected — A CORN PIT!!! As future occupational therapists, we hopped right in!

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