Student Blog
What are OS/OT?

My Mom Came to Visit Me! ⟩
January 26, 2012, by Chelsea

Living in LA School/Life Balance What are OS/OT?

Last Monday on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, my amazing mom drove two and a half hours from San Diego just to hang out with me for the day. We are both avid beach-goers and so, naturally, we decided to beeline for the Pacific Ocean. We hopped on the 110S, merged onto the 105W, and didn’t stop until we saw the bright sun shining over the sparkling water. One of our favorite restaurants in Manhattan Beach is called the North End Café, which had a debut on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and has been a hot spot ever since. We drove down Highland Avenue, but passed the North End Café since it looked so busy and we decided to try somewhere new with a good view. Well we got a great view, but the food was nothing to brag about and I can’t even remember the name of the restaurant.

After eating, my mom and I went to a small grassy park looking over the beach and sat down. There were four blond little girls ranging from 2 years old to 7 years old and they had three skateboards. The grassy park started on Highland Avenue and went almost all the way down the hill to the beach. It started with a plateau, then curved downward, then plateaued, and so on. The four little blond girls would sit on their skateboards and ride down the hill from the top to the bottom laughing and screaming for joy. My mom and I had so much fun watching them and I couldn’t help thinking about my Sensory Integration elective and how these little girls were organizing play and integrating their senses so flawlessly. In my head I’m thinking, “Wow, they are receiving proprioceptive, vestibular, and tactile input from this activity, all of which is aiding their childhood development and they don’t even know it!” The proprioceptive skill of knowing where their body was in space will help their motor coordination, the vestibular input of motion caused by gravity will help their postural control, and the tactile input of holding onto the skateboard will help their skilled movement as well as emotional development! After taking this sensory integration course I don’t know if I will ever be able to look at kids playing without thinking in occupational therapy terms!

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Terapia Ocupacional ⟩
January 12, 2012, by Chelsea

International What are OS/OT?

I have always wondered about the extent of occupational therapy’s impact around the world. If I ever wanted to move to a different country would I be able to find a good job practicing OT? Would there be a great stigma against disability? How would I advocate for my patients?

This year we have many international students from various countries such as India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan studying in our program at USC and their stories have been intriguing. Many of these students have already been practicing occupational therapy in their countries and have come to the United States to obtain their Master’s or Doctorate from USC. A lot of the stories I have heard indicate that many other countries are less accepting of disability than our own. My friend from India told me that Mothers are often deeply ashamed of their children who have disabilities. In fact, one mother had the audacity to ask my friend how to essentially “get rid” of her child. However, I have also heard stories of countries that are much more accessible to people with disabilities than the United States.

Thankfully, the United States has come a long way since the beginning of the 20th century in terms of disability rights and acceptance. The right of people who are disabled have been protected by Government legislation such as the Civil Rights Act, the Social Security Amendments of 1965, the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1975, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to name a few. I would love to learn more about the rights of people who are disabled in other countries. Someday I hope I can travel around Latin America and practice occupational therapy. I speak Spanish and I am taking an elective this semester titled “Spanish for the Health Professions” so I am not too worried about the language barrier, but if I were to practice OT in another country I would need to know a great deal about the rights of people with disabilities so that I could advocate for my patients as I would in the United States. One beneficial resource is the World Federation of Occupational Therapists, which supports the development, use and practice of occupational therapy worldwide. Spreading occupational therapy practice and ideals to areas of the world that lack adequate rehabilitation services is an alluring, yet daunting task and something that I definitely hope to do someday. The world has quite a ways to go in addressing the rights of people with disabilities, therefore I believe that many countries would benefit from learning about the policies we have in the United States and vice versa.

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Primary Care ⟩
November 15, 2011, by Kimberly

Classes What are OS/OT?

I just got back from USC-Eisner Family Medicine Center in downtown LA. For one of my electives this semester we are learning about and accumulating clinic hours in primary care settings. Primary care is a relatively new field for OT, but is an exciting one to be getting into. At Eisner we work right alongside the primary doctor to provide a more comprehensive care plan for the patient. Our scope of practice covers areas like pain management, weight management, functional assessments, organization, ergonomics, and work-life balance, to name a few.

This morning we worked briefly with a woman who is experiencing trouble with fatigue and mobility at work. She suffered a traumatic brain injury about 20 years ago and as a result has left foot drop and general left-side weakness which make it harder for her to walk. She has been mobile up until this point using the assistance of a walker and a cane while working her two jobs. But recently she has found it more tiring to walk everywhere.

After talking with the woman, we scheduled a follow-up appointment for an ergonomic assessment and a work-site assessment. These will allow us to see what adaptations to the environment could be made to enable her to better do her job without fatigue. She was very excited at the prospect of working with us in the future and at how willing we are to address her needs in the settings where they occur. So far in this class, my clinic experiences have been really rewarding. A patient who comes in for a simple check-up, some low back pain, or a need to reduce their cholesterol usually leaves from OT feeling more empowered to make small changes in their daily lives for greater health.

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A Salute to Veterans ⟩
November 14, 2011, by Chelsea

Community Getting Involved What are OS/OT?

Two weeks ago I went to an event hosted by the USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and the USC Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families called “A Wounded Warrior’s Experience and Physical Rehabilitation.” This event featured Medal of Honor recipient Sergeant First Class Leroy A. Petry and surgeon Colonel James Ficke, MD. Four years ago, Petry was deployed to Afghanistan, where he lost his right hand when he tossed away a grenade that was near him and two fellow soldiers. Now, Petry has an advanced prosthetic hand capable of detecting outside resistance and that responds to his muscle contractions and skin receptors. After having occupational and physical therapy, Petry can now pinch, grab and rotate his wrist. It is amazing to me that despite the loss of his right hand, Petry re-enlisted to help the wounded and be a part of their support team. I admire his resilience and his determination to help others. It is so incredible to see how important it is for some people to get back to pursuing their most meaningful occupations. Petry and many other veterans demonstrate such selflessness. As occupational therapy students, it really helps to hear people such as Petry speak because it helps us to grasp the disability experience better and allows us to understand our future clients better.

Occupational therapists play a crucial role in the lives of many war veterans, which is why the USC Occupational Therapy program has honored veteran students with several events throughout November. Since President Obama has announced the withdrawal of all our troops from Iraq by the end of the year, it is likely that occupational therapy will be in high demand in veteran’s hospital and other settings where veterans are prevalent. It will be difficult for many of these men and women who served in Iraq to transition back into civilian life, when their most meaningful occupation for the past few years has been fighting for their country. As OTs, it will be our job to help these veterans find occupations that are meaningful to them and give them the means to pursue these occupations despite any physical and/or mental disabilities they may come home with. The soldiers have done their part in helping our country, now it is our turn to help them.

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Halloween Preparations ⟩
October 28, 2011, by Alix

Classes What are OS/OT?

I’m spending a lot of time setting up decorations for Halloween. We’ve been amassing 99 cent store Halloween knickknacks for the past several years, so we have boxes upon boxes of dangling/blinking/shreiking/glow-in-the-dark things to put up. (We also carved SEVEN pumpkins last night.) This week I had to prepare a lesson plan for a group in one of my classes, and we were learning about the history of activity analysis (a core OT concept), so I decided to lead an activitiy analysis using the construction of Halloween decorations. We made ghosts, pumkins, and black cats with all the usual accoutrements out of construction paper and markers, and then we talked about the components of the activity and possibile adaptations for various ability levels. It was a useful OT exercise, but also accomplished my secret goal of bolstering my Halloween arsenal for the season. 😜 Happy Halloween!

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