Joe's OT blog

When I first started getting my observation hours in occupational therapy, I observed at a hospital in Arkansas. At the time I knew it was an acute care setting but did not know the specifics of what acute care entailed. As I have started OT school I have come to realize acute care is a type of setting where the patients stay is not going to be long. This was particular true in the case of the therapist I worked with. He performed therapy to clients on the ICU floor of the hospital. Throughout my time here shadowing I do not think we ever saw the same patient twice, but it was an interesting experience where I learned a lot. I think now as I have learned more about the practice of occupational therapy, I would enjoy the observation process more. I feel as if even though, I have only been in school for a little while, I am much more knowledgeable about the field. I think having this knowledge would help me understand what is going on as well as be able to ask more knowledgeable question

When I first learned about occupational therapy and what it is was, I kept hearing the word assistive technology thrown around. I had a general idea as to what it was, but always wanted to know more about it. The definition states that it is any piece of equipment, software program or product system used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a person with a disability. Assistive technology is further broken down into three different categories: low tech, medium tech and high tech. Low tech would be consider something like a pencil grip, medium tech would be considered something like a watch and high tech might be an Iphone or computer. As I have come to understand assistive technology can be any device used to be improve function capabilities. Somewhat tying into assistive technology in a round about way, I listened to the glass half full podcast on nature based therapy with guest Amy Seymour. Just to sum it up and what I learned from the podcast it is basi