The Hand You’re Dealt

January 28, 2013
by Paula

Classes What are OS/OT?

So far this semester, it has been interesting to experience the different teaching styles of the professors in the elective courses. For the most part, this is the first time that the students have had a chance to take classes with these instructors. After being a student for pretty much your entire life, you begin to find certain techniques that work really well for you, and others which do not. I’ve always enjoyed seeing what teaching strategies our instructors bring to the table in order to harness our highest potential and attention. This could be a special challenge with the new schedule of night classes this semester.

In our first few meetings of the Hand Rehabilitation elective, our professor encouraged the class to take a few minutes to think of what occupation would be most impacted if we were to seriously injure our hands. I always have felt that this is an awesome type of exercise to develop skills of empathy. Hearing the variety of occupations my classmates came up with was really interesting and gave an insight to the potential range of importance that can be placed on an activity by the individual. The discussion made me think about the many important activities and moments in my life, past and present, which would be altered if I were to have a serious hand injury. It also made me think of the many ways that hands are used in our lives such as for self expression and in social and family roles (some uses which have been important in my life are pictured below). I had a very hard time settling on something that would make me feel like I “couldn’t” do something — I began to realize that I was set on the fact that whatever would happen, I would work through it as much as was possible and find ways to adapt my occupational involvement so that I could still fit in the aspects of my life which make me feel like myself. The discussion eventually led to a question of resiliency, temperament and feelings of an internal locus of control (don’t you love when all of your coursework relates and you can create these cool webs of knowledge? ;]). What would I do if I had an injury keeping me out of my sports of swimming and water polo? It isn’t always about adapting the environment or introducing a device to assist function. Sometimes it is more about adjusting the goals and the attitudes associated with the barriers imposed on the individual. All of this was running through my mind when I realized we were starting in on another portion of the lecture. Here’s to a semester of electives!

“The proverb warns that ‘you should not bite the hand that feeds you.’ But maybe you should if it prevents you from feeding yourself” — Thomas S. Szasz

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