I had my first day of fieldwork! I was not nearly as nervous as I expected to be, so my problems with hypoglycemia and temperature regulation were minimized. We saw kids from 9am to 430 with a break for lunch - frequently co-treating with speech, or having the COTA's kid socially interact with the OT's kid. The OT and COTA are both great. The OT has a background in art so she uses a lot of art therapy techniques, which is neat.
Basically every single kid had a form of developmental delay with sensory processing disorder, behavioral issues, and maybe were somewhere on the autistic spectrum. One kid had Asperger's and he was probably my favorite, lol. I know another little boy just like him! The flat way he speaks, his preciseness, his need for order and calmness...I feel for him! Oh yeah there was another kid, nonverbal, who had gravitational insecurity. I liked him a lot too...I think I like best the kids that I can identify with as having similar problems as me because I understand their feelings easier than say, autistic kids. I dunno. Just rambling.
I really don't have any great stories from today..or at least none that inspire me too much this minute...I did talk to classmates Brooke, Kerri, and Allison and all of them had good first days as well. Kerri got to see several draumatic wounds...
Allison was telling me that one of the girls in the class above us did a rotation at a psych hospital that was pretty bizarre. They did assessment evals all day and had to ask people their three main roles. One lady said "mother, sister, and praying mantis". Yep, she thought she was a bug.
AWESOME. :)
My OTP article is getting closer to finished....and my first day went well, it just wasn't particularly exceptionally exciting. Still tough me on me fatigue wise though, and on my currenty messed-up back. I got home around 6ish and read/slept/laid in bed until 9pmish...it's 9:30 now and I'm going to eat something and go to sleep again! Will hopefully get back into the groove of things shortly. I had to get up at 6:20 this morning and left the house at 7:30 to be prepared for traffic and to make a stop, but tomorrow I can sleep in until around 7:30, yay! Traffic wasn't bad at all. Plus I'm soooo pony-tailing it tomorrow,so ha, go take a long rest, flat iron!!!
Tomorrow I observe/assist from 9am to 7pm..long day...I'm gonna take painkillers (just Aleve, nothing too exciting) in morning AND afternoon since today by 3pm my back was killing me because I guess the morning ones had warn off...hopefully can see a doctor soon!
WEDNESDAY should be very interesting as it involves going to a very very poor town in Mississippi :O
This blog chronicles my OT journey starting from 2006 in the beginning of OT school, through 9 months of fieldwork, to my first year as an OT working in rural Deep South in physical dysfunction, to my transition into an elementary school system district in California. I'm in my third year now and learning new things every day. My mind is constantly blown by the amazingness of OT!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Day 1 of first Level II fieldwork - Pediatrics - morning pre-start - aughhh
I actually managed to fall asleep around 1:30am and got up around 6:20am, not too bad. Good thing I set four alarms, I used up all of them!
I've eaten poorly and/or not exercised for most of June vacation so today is my first day back on track!
I'm eating a healthy bowl of fresh strawberries, sliced almonds, and lowfat organic peach yogurt. About to take my hodge podge of multivitamins and random supplements - I just kinda throw a few of the vitamins in the various days so each day is different! Folic acid, biotin, cranberry, vitamin E, calcium, who knows...lol.
I've already blow-dried and flat-ironed my hair for the first time in a month, lol. I have a healthy lunch prepared with a ton of hypoglycemia-friendly snacks, overkill but I like to be prepared - the more nervous I am, the more prepared I try to be, it calms me down.
I can hear the dog barking outside - public enemy # 1 - I'm going to go outside in like a bee-keeping outfit to corral him because he will otherwise get my scrubs covered in wet muddiness which will severely irritate me, he already got my white shorts the other day + my purse + my arm and leg. He's a GIANT golden doodle with way too much exuberance. Once mud dog is not a danger, Then I can get dressed and head to UT to drop off important documents, drive to Mississippi, put on make-up, walk-inside, and start DAY 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did you seriously just waste a minute of your time reading this? Sorry yo. Another thing I do when I'm nervous is write and plan. AHAHAHAHAHAA
I'll be posting later on today!! I'm excited! And scared! And oh man I still need to get out my immunizations!! Augh okay moving on....
I've eaten poorly and/or not exercised for most of June vacation so today is my first day back on track!
I'm eating a healthy bowl of fresh strawberries, sliced almonds, and lowfat organic peach yogurt. About to take my hodge podge of multivitamins and random supplements - I just kinda throw a few of the vitamins in the various days so each day is different! Folic acid, biotin, cranberry, vitamin E, calcium, who knows...lol.
I've already blow-dried and flat-ironed my hair for the first time in a month, lol. I have a healthy lunch prepared with a ton of hypoglycemia-friendly snacks, overkill but I like to be prepared - the more nervous I am, the more prepared I try to be, it calms me down.
I can hear the dog barking outside - public enemy # 1 - I'm going to go outside in like a bee-keeping outfit to corral him because he will otherwise get my scrubs covered in wet muddiness which will severely irritate me, he already got my white shorts the other day + my purse + my arm and leg. He's a GIANT golden doodle with way too much exuberance. Once mud dog is not a danger, Then I can get dressed and head to UT to drop off important documents, drive to Mississippi, put on make-up, walk-inside, and start DAY 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did you seriously just waste a minute of your time reading this? Sorry yo. Another thing I do when I'm nervous is write and plan. AHAHAHAHAHAA
I'll be posting later on today!! I'm excited! And scared! And oh man I still need to get out my immunizations!! Augh okay moving on....
Sunday, June 29, 2008
TOMORROW IS MY FIRST LEVEL II FIELDWORK - PEDIATRIC SPECIALTY - AUGHHHHHH
I have a new pair of scrubs, a bunch of groceries that i bought around midnight so I don't starve to death tomorrow, and some children OT books, ready to go. Oh crap I need to pull out my immunizations stuff. Ugh. Okay. Gonna go do that. Then sleep. Hopefully will sleep for real and not have nightmares. I THINK IT IS ALL GOING TO BE OKAY!!!!!!!!!! I think I can I think I can I think I can...
TOMORROW IS THE START OF THIS BLOG BEING OT-MINDED AGAIN!!!!!!!! THANK GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i start fieldwork tomorrow...augh
I should probably be really nervous since I start fieldwork tomorrow. I had all these visions of organizing and cleaning and preparing - a montage where here I am carefully organizing my bookcases - here I am dusting - here I am looking up pediatrics - but instead I've been sleeping a lot, hanging out with friends, and gingerly stepping over all the stuff on the floor. My house is messy, my life is messy, my car is messy....you get the picture.
I was going to go hold babies today since I didn't go yesterday but I think I'm once again going to pass because my back is still really bothering me. I probably will go to a doc or chiropractor soon - the back pain is leading to nerve pain down my legs. Fun. So now the more realistic plan is....clean surface in house so not jumping over things, prep for first day by looking up a few diagnoses/play therapy techniques, and spend some time with friends. And grocery shop! And finish the article.
The most EXCITING thing to me about starting fieldwork....this is sad...is that I will have blog material once again, coming easily...I know I have to be careful of HIPAA but I can just modify things to make people non identifiable. :) Pretty funnnnnnnnnn. I love real life adventures.
I was going to go hold babies today since I didn't go yesterday but I think I'm once again going to pass because my back is still really bothering me. I probably will go to a doc or chiropractor soon - the back pain is leading to nerve pain down my legs. Fun. So now the more realistic plan is....clean surface in house so not jumping over things, prep for first day by looking up a few diagnoses/play therapy techniques, and spend some time with friends. And grocery shop! And finish the article.
The most EXCITING thing to me about starting fieldwork....this is sad...is that I will have blog material once again, coming easily...I know I have to be careful of HIPAA but I can just modify things to make people non identifiable. :) Pretty funnnnnnnnnn. I love real life adventures.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Chewelry???
My friend Sher asked me about a nursing necklace the other day, and then I stumbled across this in my RSS feed, this is a mom who has a beautiful little girl with Rett's. This chewelry looks awesome. Maybe it would make a good nursing necklace.
Following entry is from http://caitlynsfamily.blogspot.com/
e will of course start with Chewlry!!! I am in love with these stretchy
plastic things! When I was in Chicago, I saw a girl chewing on a
necklace, and I asked the dad to tell me all about it! They are called
Chewlry. So that night Kelly (Brooklyn's mom and fellow Internet junky)
and I looked it up on line. We found where they could be purchased, and
I went home prepared!! Well, I finally got around to looking it up
again a couple weeks ago. I of course had to get the mega chewlry
because it said it was stronger! (well, they are also bigger and that
is why it is twisted) The whole point was to give Caitlyn something to
chew on other that her shirt. Let me tell you, this plastic necklace
does so much more than that! We have 7 colors-blue, purple, green, red,
orange, yellow and white. They haven't totally replaced the hand
chewing, but they have helped. What they have done, is changed her hand
pattern. She doesn't chew on her shirts (but darn it they are still wet
a little because the necklace gets wet) and probably the big thing is
the fact that she has almost completely eliminated the "crotch grab"
from her hand patterns. I don't think I've ever talked about this, but
there are days when she constantly looked as though she had wet herself
because she would suck on her hands and then grab herself! (not a "i
need to go potty" grab...that is a single finger point...this was a
full on grab) These necklaces are a wonderful thing!!! And so worth the
outrageous price I paid for them! And, no matter what color Caitlyn is
wearing, she always gets to choose the color of her necklace...she wore
orange one day with a brown shirt...
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
OT and POW!
Tomorrow morning I am going to some Low Vision case study presentation by some Level II fieldwork students, at UT...in the afternoon I am going to go visit my first fieldwork rotation to make sure I can find it, and maybe observe some to help decrease nervousness (the OT suggested it)! Also my friend Doug flies in and I think I'm going to do Bingo at Ave Maria for the last time since I won't be able to once I start fieldwork!
Today was busy and tomorrow will be too, I better go to sleep! I didn't work on my articles like I said I would but hopefully tomorrow midday will work out!
I just want the record to show that I recently played Scrabble with an OT friend of mine and when I tried to use "OT" and "POW" together (with the T under the O in POW), she said no because OT isn't a word by itself, and I thought that was TOTALLY uncool of her!! OT and POW are like best friends!!!!!! Synonyms! Hand holders! Pow! OT! Gives you the POWER! Kapow! Pow! Okay I'll stop now.
Good night!
Today was busy and tomorrow will be too, I better go to sleep! I didn't work on my articles like I said I would but hopefully tomorrow midday will work out!
I just want the record to show that I recently played Scrabble with an OT friend of mine and when I tried to use "OT" and "POW" together (with the T under the O in POW), she said no because OT isn't a word by itself, and I thought that was TOTALLY uncool of her!! OT and POW are like best friends!!!!!! Synonyms! Hand holders! Pow! OT! Gives you the POWER! Kapow! Pow! Okay I'll stop now.
Good night!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Boring boring boring boring boring.... FIELDWORK AUGH
I got back into Memphis tonight around 530pm. Thanks Suzanne and Arnie for hosting me!! I unpacked and organized for a few hours and then headed to Kerri's and Brent's to spend the night even though they are gone - I have a dentist appointment at 9am tomorrow about 2 minutes from their house so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone by A) giving their cat some loving and B) not getting up extra early just to have my teeth tortured.
Their cat is freaking me out though, because first she spent a long time meowing at the top of the game closet, and then a giant flying cockroach attacked us, and well, it's just not been the most relaxing night, hopefully I won't be eaten by a ghost next.
I've also spent about 5 hours today working on an OT Practice Article....it seemed like it would be so easy....guess what, it's of course never that simple! I've stopped for the night and am waiting for feedback from some trusted OT advisers. :)
I'm lying on the floor on my tummy with my laptop staring at the kitty and writing this e-mail...I think I've had enough action for one day and should go to sleep.
Tomorrow:
9am Dentist
10amish-130pmish - see my friend Sarah + fam
2pm - meet fieldwork coordinator Lisa to discuss some questions
3pmish - Go to St. Jude for database entry
6pmish(?) - invited to a friend's house for dinner
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: THEY NOW MAKE CROCS WITH HEELS THE WORLD HAS ENDED
9pmish??? See other friends??
+ grocery shop + work on OT articles + who knows
My plan for the next few day involves seeing friends, getting lots of errands run, finishing up these two articles, and getting prepared for my first Level II Fieldwork...sooo scared...I don't feel scared during the day but at night I have lots of nightmares about it. Almost every nightmare involves freaky things at a local children's hospital. Like having to go through tiny tiny passageways...I always wake up suffocating! Yuck!!
Ways I want to prepare include...figuring out some healthy meals and snacks to ward off the nervousness-induced hypoglycemia...getting some cold packs to ward off the nervousness-induced temperature regulation issues that make me feel like a furnace...getting my house and life in order to help keep me calm...like figuring out how to get to the place, getting my scrubs in order, blah blah blah....and then studying up on common pediatric diagnoses, and developmental assessments like the Peabody, and even doing some silly homework like reviewing names of the Wiggles, VeggieTales, Doodlebops...etc. LOL. The more prepared I feel, the less anxious I feel...and since I'll be pretty anxious no matter what, I gotta focus on the things I can control to help give me a little bit of peace at least! I don't like change or new things...and to know that the next 9 months is nothing BUT new challenges every day, is REALLY SCARY TO ME!!! It's like living my year in Norway all over again - every day had a new challenge....and it was one of the best years of my life but also one of the hardest and scariest. Maybe it won't be that bad. I am too hard on myself.
Ok...to study....I guess Down's syndrome, CP, autism/spectrum, sensory processing disorder, mental retardation, and hmmmm....that's probably a good place to start with reviewing...plus look up developmental milestones for first few years of life...basics of hand skills for handwriting...plus some popular kid cartoon characters...blahdey blah blah!!!
GOOD NIGHT!!!!
PS: One of these days I'll catch up on my RSS feeds for OT blogs!! I'm so impressed with how many people are blogging these days!!
Their cat is freaking me out though, because first she spent a long time meowing at the top of the game closet, and then a giant flying cockroach attacked us, and well, it's just not been the most relaxing night, hopefully I won't be eaten by a ghost next.
I've also spent about 5 hours today working on an OT Practice Article....it seemed like it would be so easy....guess what, it's of course never that simple! I've stopped for the night and am waiting for feedback from some trusted OT advisers. :)
I'm lying on the floor on my tummy with my laptop staring at the kitty and writing this e-mail...I think I've had enough action for one day and should go to sleep.
Tomorrow:
9am Dentist
10amish-130pmish - see my friend Sarah + fam
2pm - meet fieldwork coordinator Lisa to discuss some questions
3pmish - Go to St. Jude for database entry
6pmish(?) - invited to a friend's house for dinner
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: THEY NOW MAKE CROCS WITH HEELS THE WORLD HAS ENDED
9pmish??? See other friends??
+ grocery shop + work on OT articles + who knows
My plan for the next few day involves seeing friends, getting lots of errands run, finishing up these two articles, and getting prepared for my first Level II Fieldwork...sooo scared...I don't feel scared during the day but at night I have lots of nightmares about it. Almost every nightmare involves freaky things at a local children's hospital. Like having to go through tiny tiny passageways...I always wake up suffocating! Yuck!!
Ways I want to prepare include...figuring out some healthy meals and snacks to ward off the nervousness-induced hypoglycemia...getting some cold packs to ward off the nervousness-induced temperature regulation issues that make me feel like a furnace...getting my house and life in order to help keep me calm...like figuring out how to get to the place, getting my scrubs in order, blah blah blah....and then studying up on common pediatric diagnoses, and developmental assessments like the Peabody, and even doing some silly homework like reviewing names of the Wiggles, VeggieTales, Doodlebops...etc. LOL. The more prepared I feel, the less anxious I feel...and since I'll be pretty anxious no matter what, I gotta focus on the things I can control to help give me a little bit of peace at least! I don't like change or new things...and to know that the next 9 months is nothing BUT new challenges every day, is REALLY SCARY TO ME!!! It's like living my year in Norway all over again - every day had a new challenge....and it was one of the best years of my life but also one of the hardest and scariest. Maybe it won't be that bad. I am too hard on myself.
Ok...to study....I guess Down's syndrome, CP, autism/spectrum, sensory processing disorder, mental retardation, and hmmmm....that's probably a good place to start with reviewing...plus look up developmental milestones for first few years of life...basics of hand skills for handwriting...plus some popular kid cartoon characters...blahdey blah blah!!!
GOOD NIGHT!!!!
PS: One of these days I'll catch up on my RSS feeds for OT blogs!! I'm so impressed with how many people are blogging these days!!
Scratch that. Let's try this. TagCrowd.
advance aota blog caps class com comments congress contact deja disability diversity done e-mail expire famous focus http incoming info karen legislation life links medicare members mom mot mpfs newsletter occupational ot ot-related patti people pm posted probably profession second student therapy tips update video vision vu wordle work yay
created at TagCrowd.com
My Web 2.0/OT Wordle That I Don't Know How to Save :O Oh wait Maybe I do watch this Yo
woot
<a href="http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/27158/OT"
title="Wordle: OT"><img
src="http://wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/27158/OT"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd"
></a>
Monday, June 23, 2008
Disability/diversity/headed back home
I am WAY behind on deadline....working on part of a paper where I focus on disability as a form of diversity often overlooked when discussing increasing diversity in OT workforce as one of the biggies of the Centennial Vision...of all professions, OT should be the biggest in accomodating people with disabilities!! And bad spellers!!
If I can get that done tonight - I've done all the big scuttlework - then tomorrow I can focus more on next article, a biggie!!
Tonight is last night in Nashville - I head back to Memphis tomorrow for first time in 20 days. When I get in I will plan to focus on chores like groceries, unpacking, watering garden, going through 3 weeks of mail, prepping for chores/appointments for next few days, etc. And the article. Once those two things are done I am finally free to focus on studying and preparation for my upcoming pediatric rotation, starting June 30th in Mississipi. I will be working 9am to 7pm Mon-Thurs, augh! LOL. I checked out the place's website and it looks like a cool place though. I'm excited. And I can wear scrubs!! Phew!!
Ummm.....I guess that's all to share for right this moment. My eyes are crossing. Augh. Okay back to diversity!!
If I can get that done tonight - I've done all the big scuttlework - then tomorrow I can focus more on next article, a biggie!!
Tonight is last night in Nashville - I head back to Memphis tomorrow for first time in 20 days. When I get in I will plan to focus on chores like groceries, unpacking, watering garden, going through 3 weeks of mail, prepping for chores/appointments for next few days, etc. And the article. Once those two things are done I am finally free to focus on studying and preparation for my upcoming pediatric rotation, starting June 30th in Mississipi. I will be working 9am to 7pm Mon-Thurs, augh! LOL. I checked out the place's website and it looks like a cool place though. I'm excited. And I can wear scrubs!! Phew!!
Ummm.....I guess that's all to share for right this moment. My eyes are crossing. Augh. Okay back to diversity!!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Therapy Caps Set to Expire June 30, Contact Your Members of Congress Today
I just used the AOTA Legislative Action Center to fill out a form letter about this...just edited the text to say student instead of practitioner. Really easy. DO IT if you are an OT student or OT Practitioner or whatever!! Please!!!
=============
This excerpt is copy/pasted from e-mail....
"
Therapy Caps Set to Expire June 30, Contact Your Members of Congress Today
Congress has until June 30 to pass legislation to address the Medicare Part
B outpatient therapy caps and pending cuts to the Medicare Physician Fee
Schedule (MPFS). Should Congress not take action, the therapy caps will be
implemented at $1,810 per beneficiary and the MPFS will be cut by 10.6%.
Contact your members of Congress today by using AOTA's Legislative Action
Center at <http://capwiz.com/aota/issues/alert/?alertid=10910161>
http://capwiz.com/aota/issues/alert/?alertid=10910161 to urge your
representatives to pass Medicare legislation by June 30 that will extend the
Medicare therapy cap exceptions process and update the MPFS for 18 months.
The Senate is currently considering proposals to address Medicare. We must
ensure that the exceptions extension and MPFS update are included for 18
months to allow time to develop an appropriate long-term solution."
=============
This excerpt is copy/pasted from e-mail....
"
Therapy Caps Set to Expire June 30, Contact Your Members of Congress Today
Congress has until June 30 to pass legislation to address the Medicare Part
B outpatient therapy caps and pending cuts to the Medicare Physician Fee
Schedule (MPFS). Should Congress not take action, the therapy caps will be
implemented at $1,810 per beneficiary and the MPFS will be cut by 10.6%.
Contact your members of Congress today by using AOTA's Legislative Action
Center at <http://capwiz.com/aota/issues/alert/?alertid=10910161>
http://capwiz.com/aota/issues/alert/?alertid=10910161 to urge your
representatives to pass Medicare legislation by June 30 that will extend the
Medicare therapy cap exceptions process and update the MPFS for 18 months.
The Senate is currently considering proposals to address Medicare. We must
ensure that the exceptions extension and MPFS update are included for 18
months to allow time to develop an appropriate long-term solution."
We're famous, but probably deja vu famous only
My OT friend Patti pointed out one of the ALCS videos we made was posted on the OT advantage blog!
http://www.ot-advantage.com/ota/blogs.aspx?id=988&blogid=96
We're famous. I probably already posted this but I have forgotten, I have plaques growing on my brain I think. THANKS PATTI for pointing it out...also a few people commented on some corrections needed. So somebody go make those corrections. Yeah I have deja vu of writing this post. Oh well. Moving on.
http://www.ot-advantage.com/ota/blogs.aspx?id=988&blogid=96
We're famous. I probably already posted this but I have forgotten, I have plaques growing on my brain I think. THANKS PATTI for pointing it out...also a few people commented on some corrections needed. So somebody go make those corrections. Yeah I have deja vu of writing this post. Oh well. Moving on.
Advance!
I finally signed up to get a copy of Advance Magazine sent to my house....I get their e-mail newsletter and it pretty much always overwhelms me because I want to read everything but realistically I don't have the time to do everything I want to do in life!! If you are in a rehab service like OT, sign up!!
http://rehabilitation-director.advanceweb.com/SharedResources/AdvanceforDR/Resources/Newsletter/Newsletter.htm
http://rehabilitation-director.advanceweb.com/SharedResources/AdvanceforDR/Resources/Newsletter/Newsletter.htm
Yay for occupational therapists
I stole this from my OT friend Orli, who posted it to the TN listserv, but I woulda stumbled across it somehow anyway, plus I'm positive she wouldn't care. :P It's about a man with bilateral arm amputations and he is awesome. Link provided by friend Burt!
-----------
"Sunday morning's Memphis newspaper (The Commercial Appeal) contains a
front-page picture of Sandy Fletchall with one of her patients, in the
Local News section. Kudos to Sandy for helping make our profession more
visible and better understood! Well done!"
http://www.commercialappeal
-----------
"Sunday morning's Memphis newspaper (The Commercial Appeal) contains a
front-page picture of Sandy Fletchall with one of her patients, in the
Local News section. Kudos to Sandy for helping make our profession more
visible and better understood! Well done!"
http://www.commercialappeal
A comment on Second Life :)
Susan Toth-Cohen (SL:Zsuzsa Tomsen) has left a new comment on your post "Second Life for "Gimps"":
Hi, I'm an OT educator (Jefferson College of Health Professions, Philadelphia) in Second Life and put up a video about our OT Center there. BTW, soon we will have a new video about the work we've done in the year since that video was completed.
I highly recommend that OT's and OT educators use Second Life and other virtual environments as a venue to help realize the Centennial Vision of "occupational therapy [as] a powerful, widely recognized, science-driven, and evidence-based profession with a globally connected and diverse workforce meeting society's occupational needs (AOTA, 2008)."
Hi, I'm an OT educator (Jefferson College of Health Professions, Philadelphia) in Second Life and put up a video about our OT Center there. BTW, soon we will have a new video about the work we've done in the year since that video was completed.
I highly recommend that OT's and OT educators use Second Life and other virtual environments as a venue to help realize the Centennial Vision of "occupational therapy [as] a powerful, widely recognized, science-driven, and evidence-based profession with a globally connected and diverse workforce meeting society's occupational needs (AOTA, 2008)."
Ms Wheelchair Tennessee :)
From: Amy Saffell, former Miss Wheelchair TN
To Whom it may Concern
I'm the State Coordinator for the Ms. Wheelchair TN Pageant, and our
pageant is coming up October 4th. We're really trying to grow the
program, and I hoped that you could spread the word among interested
people whom you have met in your advocacy, particularly students. I
have attached an e-card that we're using to gain contestants and
sponsors, so feel free to pass it along to individuals or to someone
who might want to use it in a newsletter. If you know of any
interested ladies (The pageant is open to female wheelchair users
between the ages of 6-60.), the application is here:
http://www.mswheelchairtennesse
application fees can be found on our website,
www.mswheelchairtennessee.org. The application is due July 29th! As
a former titleholder, I can truly say that the pageant is a wonderful
way to grow in your own self confidence, to meet wonderful women with
disabilities, and to show the community that having a disability does
not set us back in life. Let me know if you need anything else from
me!
Thanks!
Amy Saffell
To Whom it may Concern
I'm the State Coordinator for the Ms. Wheelchair TN Pageant, and our
pageant is coming up October 4th. We're really trying to grow the
program, and I hoped that you could spread the word among interested
people whom you have met in your advocacy, particularly students. I
have attached an e-card that we're using to gain contestants and
sponsors, so feel free to pass it along to individuals or to someone
who might want to use it in a newsletter. If you know of any
interested ladies (The pageant is open to female wheelchair users
between the ages of 6-60.), the application is here:
http://www.mswheelchairtennesse
application fees can be found on our website,
www.mswheelchairtennessee.org. The application is due July 29th! As
a former titleholder, I can truly say that the pageant is a wonderful
way to grow in your own self confidence, to meet wonderful women with
disabilities, and to show the community that having a disability does
not set us back in life. Let me know if you need anything else from
me!
Thanks!
Amy Saffell
Friday, June 20, 2008
Singing Elmo goodnight
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I saw this while visiting my friend in Florida, I fly back to Nashville tomorrow. Right now Mom is on couch breast-feeding and working a computer shift, Kid is eating a sandwich and watching Doodlebops on cushion next to her, Dad is reading a magazine on cushion next to him, and I'm in next chair with a cat holding his paw on my hand as I type. Oh, we just had a break while child danced on table next to Dad to the Doodlebop bus song.
ANYWAY, this video is Andrea Bocelli singing Elmo to sleep, and I thought it was simply beautiful, I want an mp3 of it! This has to do with OT because EVERYTHING has to do with OT in some way or form. :) I start my pediatric fieldwork on June 30th....big fieldwork change of plans. I need to catch up on this soon. Lots of OT stuff to share/write about. Maybe tommorow!
I saw this while visiting my friend in Florida, I fly back to Nashville tomorrow. Right now Mom is on couch breast-feeding and working a computer shift, Kid is eating a sandwich and watching Doodlebops on cushion next to her, Dad is reading a magazine on cushion next to him, and I'm in next chair with a cat holding his paw on my hand as I type. Oh, we just had a break while child danced on table next to Dad to the Doodlebop bus song.
ANYWAY, this video is Andrea Bocelli singing Elmo to sleep, and I thought it was simply beautiful, I want an mp3 of it! This has to do with OT because EVERYTHING has to do with OT in some way or form. :) I start my pediatric fieldwork on June 30th....big fieldwork change of plans. I need to catch up on this soon. Lots of OT stuff to share/write about. Maybe tommorow!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Elder Porn in Japan...not USA?
http://www.cnn.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1815509,00.html?cnn=yes
AN ARTICLE IN TIME MAGAZINE ON ELDER PORN AND ITS GROWING POPULARITY IN JAPAN!! I STARTED TALKING ABOUT SENIOR PORN MONTHS AGO WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT SEXUALITY IN SENIORS IN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY SCHOOL, AND HOW SENIOR EROTICA WAS PROBABLY AN UNMET NEED! GO BACK AND READ OLD BLOG POSTS FOR PROOF! HEY TIME MAGAZINE! STOP STEALING MY STUFF!
Just kidding :) Cool, huh.
AN ARTICLE IN TIME MAGAZINE ON ELDER PORN AND ITS GROWING POPULARITY IN JAPAN!! I STARTED TALKING ABOUT SENIOR PORN MONTHS AGO WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT SEXUALITY IN SENIORS IN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY SCHOOL, AND HOW SENIOR EROTICA WAS PROBABLY AN UNMET NEED! GO BACK AND READ OLD BLOG POSTS FOR PROOF! HEY TIME MAGAZINE! STOP STEALING MY STUFF!
Just kidding :) Cool, huh.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Just my plans, nothing exciting....well except for something I won't share yet lol
I leave San Diego tomorrow, Monday afternoon...get picked up by my good friends in Nashville for the night...then fly to Jacksonville, Florida on Tuesday morning. Meeting friends there - they just had their second baby! Looking forward to it. :)
Have had fun in San Diego and time has flown. Lots to share that I thought about late last night but have now, at least temporarily, forgotten, and/or am too lazy to write about right now. I'm having a lot of lower back pain (starting after first two days here when I spent a lot of time bent over looking for shells), that is kind of radiating into my legs....I took a whole muscle relaxant last night hoping it would help and therefore spent most of today groggy since I'm sensitive!...It didn't help much though and in fact it's been getting worse day by day. Have not previously experienced this. Will probably see a doctor soon if it's not gone by the time I get back to Nashville.
Some exciting news...but gotta wait to share it till I have permission...it does involve the awesomeness of the online OT community though.....and AOTA....and I need to catch up asap on online OT blogs since apparently I've been missing some great posts!! And I have lots of pictures to share soon!!
Tomorrow morning I'm going to attempt to go walking with my next door neighbor if my back is up for it, then maybe work on some random OT and Ipod related chores..will be home alone all morning, then drive rental car to airport and head back on plane in the afternoon!
GOOD NIGHT! It's only 10:20 pm but I'm gonna lie down and rest my back! Augh! I'm so old!!
Have had fun in San Diego and time has flown. Lots to share that I thought about late last night but have now, at least temporarily, forgotten, and/or am too lazy to write about right now. I'm having a lot of lower back pain (starting after first two days here when I spent a lot of time bent over looking for shells), that is kind of radiating into my legs....I took a whole muscle relaxant last night hoping it would help and therefore spent most of today groggy since I'm sensitive!...It didn't help much though and in fact it's been getting worse day by day. Have not previously experienced this. Will probably see a doctor soon if it's not gone by the time I get back to Nashville.
Some exciting news...but gotta wait to share it till I have permission...it does involve the awesomeness of the online OT community though.....and AOTA....and I need to catch up asap on online OT blogs since apparently I've been missing some great posts!! And I have lots of pictures to share soon!!
Tomorrow morning I'm going to attempt to go walking with my next door neighbor if my back is up for it, then maybe work on some random OT and Ipod related chores..will be home alone all morning, then drive rental car to airport and head back on plane in the afternoon!
GOOD NIGHT! It's only 10:20 pm but I'm gonna lie down and rest my back! Augh! I'm so old!!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Online OT community and M&Ms
Mom and I are headed to the beach to put peanut M&M's in holey rocks and take pictures. And then the post office and Washington Mutual. And then Dad's house for a family dinner. So bye now. Maybe pictures later tonight.
PS: I'm officially starting to work on an online OT community article!
PS: I'm officially starting to work on an online OT community article!
itunes = good OT
When I was at the alzheimer's day center for two weeks, they did a lot of singing. Old song singing. I didn't know any of them. Clementines, silver moons, you name it. Well it's midnight at Grandma's and everyone is asleep. Well except me obviously. I'm surrounded by Grandma's CDs of old songs, that I'm burning into itunes, so that I can learn the popular ones and be all like, popular with the Alzheimer's patients.
I feel like I hit the jackpot at Grandma's, lol.
PS: im reading a weird book on autism and adoption and the parents give mad props to the OT for helping their son! Yay!
I feel like I hit the jackpot at Grandma's, lol.
PS: im reading a weird book on autism and adoption and the parents give mad props to the OT for helping their son! Yay!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Update on CE article in OT Practice
I wrote the editor of OT Practice with my rants (a few posts down) about not mentioning the current OT community when writing about Web 2.0 tools. She and a few other AOTA employees and I have been in talks and we have determined a follow-up sort of article that looks at current OT community would be great, as the CE article really isn't the place for that....I agree. My rant was therefore not that legitimate since it was a CE article and not a normal one, but hey, now there will be a cool article in the works hopefully. There are lots of angles to take so no real information yet, just waiting to hear, but hopefully I can at least help out! We'll see what happens. Anyway. We had dinner at The Fish market last night with a view of the bay - right next to seaport village - as Kristina is finally in town. We sang beautiful songs to each other. The best one was about ovaries and I rhymed it with Madame Bovary which means I won. I also decided if I ever discover a species and get to name it, I'll make sure it rhymes with orange.
Yesterday I gave my grandmother the MMSE - mini mental state exam - and am happy to report she is clear-minded. I also did most of the Tai Chi assessments we used on her, minus the physical ones, and her answers were interesting, with patterns similar to that of the study participants. Have to think about it for a while before discussing.
My sister spent the night at a friend's and is going to a Muai Thai or some kind of fighting class at noon...then she and I can hang out in the afternoon and then spend night at Grandma's....I've just been chilling out. I think I'm going to go cuddle with my kitties in bed and read for a while. I do have some OT posts to write but little incentive as I'm a lounge lizard couch potato. I better go outside and soak in some sun this afternoon!! When I try to suntan in the backyard the cats always lie on top of me and I'm so paranoid of getting like, tan lines in the shape of a cat's tail! It could happen!
Okay that was maybe too much information. Okay here is more too much information - barring any odd circumstances, it looks like I will be graduating with a 4.0 at least in a didactic sense! Yay!
I get to spend a few days with NORMAL babies next week, a 3 month old and a 3 (?) year old. I'm going to think they are prodigies since I am so used to babies with severe developmental delays. The kids will like, clap their hands and hold their heads up or something, and I'll be like OMG THEY ARE GENIUSES!
I miss my babies! And my old people! And everyone! But I'm happy to be here with my family and just relaxing with an ocean view is nothing to complain about. You can see tons of ocean just lying in bed! So that's where I'm headed. PS: chips, real coke with real sugar from Mexico, and pineapple = great breakfast
Yesterday I gave my grandmother the MMSE - mini mental state exam - and am happy to report she is clear-minded. I also did most of the Tai Chi assessments we used on her, minus the physical ones, and her answers were interesting, with patterns similar to that of the study participants. Have to think about it for a while before discussing.
My sister spent the night at a friend's and is going to a Muai Thai or some kind of fighting class at noon...then she and I can hang out in the afternoon and then spend night at Grandma's....I've just been chilling out. I think I'm going to go cuddle with my kitties in bed and read for a while. I do have some OT posts to write but little incentive as I'm a lounge lizard couch potato. I better go outside and soak in some sun this afternoon!! When I try to suntan in the backyard the cats always lie on top of me and I'm so paranoid of getting like, tan lines in the shape of a cat's tail! It could happen!
Okay that was maybe too much information. Okay here is more too much information - barring any odd circumstances, it looks like I will be graduating with a 4.0 at least in a didactic sense! Yay!
I get to spend a few days with NORMAL babies next week, a 3 month old and a 3 (?) year old. I'm going to think they are prodigies since I am so used to babies with severe developmental delays. The kids will like, clap their hands and hold their heads up or something, and I'll be like OMG THEY ARE GENIUSES!
I miss my babies! And my old people! And everyone! But I'm happy to be here with my family and just relaxing with an ocean view is nothing to complain about. You can see tons of ocean just lying in bed! So that's where I'm headed. PS: chips, real coke with real sugar from Mexico, and pineapple = great breakfast
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
tiny update
Going through Dad's itunes library....going to The Fish market for dinner with family. Spent night at Grandma's last night. Kristina came in today. Having fun!
LAST CALL FOR AOTA CONFERENCE PAPERS!
Yo OT-related people!
AOTA Conference 2009 needs your papers in, ridiculously early! So this is your like, last call!! June 15th is the deadline! SEND AOTA YOUR STUFF! If you don't, a man dressed like a chicken will come into your house and eat you while you sleep! Or maybe not that, but at the very least, you will not have your paper at conference.
http://www.aota.org/conference.aspx
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
booorrrrrinnngggg
I need to clean up my stuff and get it in order in preparation for Kristina showing up tomorrow since we have to share a room/bed! :( And shower and pack for Grandma's! And do several Internet chores for OT-related things! :O Okay gonna go clean first!!
Monday, June 9, 2008
A rooster named Karen
I'm not famous in the OT world but I do have a rooster named after me....
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-716917.mp3
My awesomely crazy and generous friends Paul and Angela (anything weird in my house was almost certainly a present from them), were both on a recent WKNO radio show, "Local Food Movement Gains Momentum With Mid-Southerners".......they are Slow Food Members (I have a gift membership from them), and they try hard to eat local and they even have their own chickens in their city backyard. One of which is named Karen. And Karen eventually turned out to be a rooster. :(
And that rooster named Karen gets mentioned in this broadcast..Paul is in the middle of the radio mp3 clip talking about being an introvert (cough) and getting to know the farmers, and Angela is near the end discussing the chickens. And rooster. AHAHAHAHAHAA.
Their website: http://squirrel-squad.blogspot.com/
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-716917.mp3
My awesomely crazy and generous friends Paul and Angela (anything weird in my house was almost certainly a present from them), were both on a recent WKNO radio show, "Local Food Movement Gains Momentum With Mid-Southerners".......they are Slow Food Members (I have a gift membership from them), and they try hard to eat local and they even have their own chickens in their city backyard. One of which is named Karen. And Karen eventually turned out to be a rooster. :(
And that rooster named Karen gets mentioned in this broadcast..Paul is in the middle of the radio mp3 clip talking about being an introvert (cough) and getting to know the farmers, and Angela is near the end discussing the chickens. And rooster. AHAHAHAHAHAA.
Their website: http://squirrel-squad.blogspot.com/
All is well on the OT front? Almost ....
Today ended with an incredibly rich dinner at Osteria Restaurante, an Italian restaurant in downtown La Jolla. Near the end of the dinner my mother and father were discussing and drawing probability charts and how probability isn't always how it seems, based on some new book called the Drunkard's Walk or something, and how a drunkard near a light pole always ends up in the same place, and how that fact was used to like, I dunno, figure out some major astrophysics principle. I drew my own version of astrophysics using all sorts of crazy math symbols and got chided for not using integrals. Gosh, silly me.
Nothing to report on the OT front again, beyond that I got really irritated with the recent continuing education article in OT practice that was on blogs, wikis, and podcasts! Grr!! It praised the use of Web 2.0 technology to promote the centennial vision and OT community, then completely ignored the OT community that is already using these tools! It focused on generic examples, and when it did list two OT blogs, it listed one that was barely active with only a few posts, and one that isn't really a normal OT blog! Grr! I wrote the editor (the amazing Laura) and I was like, I'm biased of course, and it's not that I'm just sore I wasn't mentioned, but it's somewhat of a slap in the face to write a completely generic article on Web 2.0 tools in the OT community and then not actually note that a community exists! A large community! Grrr!! Grrr!!!
Okay, I guess that was actually a report on the OT front. Maybe tomorrow I'll respond to all my e-mails!! OT ones included, all my little OT luviedoves!!
Nothing to report on the OT front again, beyond that I got really irritated with the recent continuing education article in OT practice that was on blogs, wikis, and podcasts! Grr!! It praised the use of Web 2.0 technology to promote the centennial vision and OT community, then completely ignored the OT community that is already using these tools! It focused on generic examples, and when it did list two OT blogs, it listed one that was barely active with only a few posts, and one that isn't really a normal OT blog! Grr! I wrote the editor (the amazing Laura) and I was like, I'm biased of course, and it's not that I'm just sore I wasn't mentioned, but it's somewhat of a slap in the face to write a completely generic article on Web 2.0 tools in the OT community and then not actually note that a community exists! A large community! Grrr!! Grrr!!!
Okay, I guess that was actually a report on the OT front. Maybe tomorrow I'll respond to all my e-mails!! OT ones included, all my little OT luviedoves!!
lonely people
I just saw one of my neighbors of twenty years, go to check her mailbox. She is using a rolling walker, needing assistance for the first time...she was old twenty years ago so now she is REALLY OLD! She used her left foot to really walk and her right foot to kind of slide along. It made me feel sick to my stomach to see the walker...She isn't social anymore, but she used to be a lot nicer, and I think when her husband died a long time ago, she became a lonely disgruntled widow. I have memories of admiring her roses and eating her candy as a little girl. She is now obsessive about her mailbox and lives for her daily mail. I'm going to write down her address and start sending her postcards every once in a while...she didn't have any mail in the box today.
Ugh, things like this make me so sad!! Loneliness is such an unfair thing...like the Beatles Song..Eleanor Rigby...all the lonely people...where do they all come from.
I have a bunch of postcard stamps with me...time to buy some postcards and write to all the lonely elderly people I know! I go through a postcard blitz like this a few times a year when I see something that reminds me of how much small gestures of kindness can mean!! Like a single letter in an old woman's mailbox! Aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..
When I'm an OT, one of the art projects I'll always keep in mind for clients is making and sending postcards to loved ones, especially elderly people or lonely people....and if the client has no one, I always seem to have a list of people who could benefit from such a thing. Aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh loneliness :(
I challenge all of you who read this post today, to go buy some pretty and colorful postcards, stamp them all immediately, and send just a few words out to some people you know who might be a little lonely...even if you don't know the person that well. It can just be a "Thinking of you!"....it might be the single moment of joy that person gets that day. That act of kindness brings Karmic GOLD.
Give it a try...maybe your own life will improve as well. :)
Ugh, things like this make me so sad!! Loneliness is such an unfair thing...like the Beatles Song..Eleanor Rigby...all the lonely people...where do they all come from.
I have a bunch of postcard stamps with me...time to buy some postcards and write to all the lonely elderly people I know! I go through a postcard blitz like this a few times a year when I see something that reminds me of how much small gestures of kindness can mean!! Like a single letter in an old woman's mailbox! Aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..
When I'm an OT, one of the art projects I'll always keep in mind for clients is making and sending postcards to loved ones, especially elderly people or lonely people....and if the client has no one, I always seem to have a list of people who could benefit from such a thing. Aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh loneliness :(
I challenge all of you who read this post today, to go buy some pretty and colorful postcards, stamp them all immediately, and send just a few words out to some people you know who might be a little lonely...even if you don't know the person that well. It can just be a "Thinking of you!"....it might be the single moment of joy that person gets that day. That act of kindness brings Karmic GOLD.
Give it a try...maybe your own life will improve as well. :)
Bed Bath and Beyond...a good place for grandma's care items
Letter I got from my friend! Bed Bath and Beyond goes above and beyond! ha ha ha!@
"Last November after Mom broke her leg, I had to get her several items, such as a raised commode seat, shower chair, and a tub rail. I went all over town from Walgreen's to CVS to a medical equipment store. Nobody had everything, if you get my meaning. Selection was very limited and prices were high.
Yesterday for the first time in my life I went to a Bed, Bath and Beyond. We went to look at stuff for Sarah's dorm room. And on one really big end display in the bath section, there it all was. Everything I had spent about 4 hours searching for all over town, plus some items that would have been helpful but were not necessary and I couldn't find them anyway.
I have no vested interest in BB&B,and would have never thought them a source for accommodation items. Selection and price (as compared to what I remember) were both good.
I was surprised."
"Last November after Mom broke her leg, I had to get her several items, such as a raised commode seat, shower chair, and a tub rail. I went all over town from Walgreen's to CVS to a medical equipment store. Nobody had everything, if you get my meaning. Selection was very limited and prices were high.
Yesterday for the first time in my life I went to a Bed, Bath and Beyond. We went to look at stuff for Sarah's dorm room. And on one really big end display in the bath section, there it all was. Everything I had spent about 4 hours searching for all over town, plus some items that would have been helpful but were not necessary and I couldn't find them anyway.
I have no vested interest in BB&B,and would have never thought them a source for accommodation items. Selection and price (as compared to what I remember) were both good.
I was surprised."
Sunday, June 8, 2008
San Diego Vacation time....
I should probably clarify that I am now in San Diego for the next week or so, visiting family...been with family and bff Paloma...although she left today after we spent several fun days together.....and my twin sister Kristina flies in Tuesday.....OT Kerri and her Mom Visited Us one night...which was AWESOME...have already absorbed too many sun cancer cells and aloe vera is my friend.....been doing lots of dorky things with mom since we both have passions for shells, stones, words...although she is way smarter/better than me at all of the above. I am like oh look at that awesome green rock and she is like "oh look, its a granulographite with a seraphyte subterrean nodule malakekaohekaoeiah".....tonight mom and i kicked off an andy goldsworthy kick, using white beach rocks on a purple silk scarf for designs...i made a snail, a dragonfly, a flower vase, a bear, and some mini towers with the rocks...she did more pure andy goldsworthy-like designs focusing on shape/color transitions. I'm not that patient.
Nothing OT related to share besides the fact my father still doesn't apparently grasp what all an OT can do, so I gotta keep working on him. :)
Tomorrow: In no particular order...Mom at work. Collecting more beach rocks for art projects. Hanging with Dad. Sunbathing with the kitties. Meeting neighbor Eric (home from Harvard for summer, I used to babysit him when he was like in elementary school!! His brother Peter just graduated high school and will be starting at Stanford...I remember cuddling him when he was only TWO YEARS OLD I feel SO ANCIENT!!!!!)....maybe getting to see Grandma. FINISHING a paper. La la la....maybe I'll do some more Twittering (check upper right corner of blog)....
I MISS ALL MY OT PEEPS! AND NON OT PEEPS TOO JUST TO COVER ALL MY BASES! LOL....have a few more things to do before will be getting to all my e-mails! Perhaps tommorow?!!
Nothing OT related to share besides the fact my father still doesn't apparently grasp what all an OT can do, so I gotta keep working on him. :)
Tomorrow: In no particular order...Mom at work. Collecting more beach rocks for art projects. Hanging with Dad. Sunbathing with the kitties. Meeting neighbor Eric (home from Harvard for summer, I used to babysit him when he was like in elementary school!! His brother Peter just graduated high school and will be starting at Stanford...I remember cuddling him when he was only TWO YEARS OLD I feel SO ANCIENT!!!!!)....maybe getting to see Grandma. FINISHING a paper. La la la....maybe I'll do some more Twittering (check upper right corner of blog)....
I MISS ALL MY OT PEEPS! AND NON OT PEEPS TOO JUST TO COVER ALL MY BASES! LOL....have a few more things to do before will be getting to all my e-mails! Perhaps tommorow?!!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
I flower like a crustacean?
"Wow, Karen, your OT blog is cool. You are flowering like a crustacean..." - Paloma
Time to save brain cells
Me and Paloma working on school-related things with the timer system, sitting on the couch with our laptops (me on health policy, her on foreign policy).
Me: How should we spend our ten-minute break?
Paloma: Something non-thinky
Me: How about sitting here and doing nothing?
Paloma: Sounds good.
Me: How should we spend our ten-minute break?
Paloma: Something non-thinky
Me: How about sitting here and doing nothing?
Paloma: Sounds good.
Friday, June 6, 2008
The MOT 2 Class Ends ....Didactically ::cries::
Our tech guy Neal made this awesome end-of-school video for us! It's so cute and so sad too! :(
I'm Twittering a lot (upper right corner) while on my trip in San Diego!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
AOTA fills my bribed heart with joy...kidding...I don't even get free pens (except at conference)
Sam Gonzalez of Social Media Manager of AOTA fame clarifies that I have not (yet) been blacklisted and that he is in fact quite the ambassador for us OT social networkers & AOTA. He commented on one of my previous posts (the ones where I had an AOTA tantrum), to note that AOTA is also on Flickr and My Space. And YouTube and Twitter and every other social network thing you can think of, yo
www.myspace.com/aota2007
www.flickr.com/photos/aotainc
So, see, AOTA? I obviously love you or I wouldn't post your links. Where's my commission? Just send it to OT Student, PO Box OT 2017, Oteeville, North Otakota
---
Been babysitting and/or with friends for like, nonstop lately, and now in Nashville to head out to San Diego early in morning. Mooooooooooooore later....
I LOVE ALL YOU FRESH OT STUDENTS BY THE WAY, HOPE YOU ENJOY OT SCHOOL AND DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE.
www.myspace.com/aota2007
www.flickr.com/photos/aotainc
So, see, AOTA? I obviously love you or I wouldn't post your links. Where's my commission? Just send it to OT Student, PO Box OT 2017, Oteeville, North Otakota
---
Been babysitting and/or with friends for like, nonstop lately, and now in Nashville to head out to San Diego early in morning. Mooooooooooooore later....
I LOVE ALL YOU FRESH OT STUDENTS BY THE WAY, HOPE YOU ENJOY OT SCHOOL AND DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Surprise surprise
Today I babysat all day...a little boy whose brother was at camp...he is obsessed with the Zelda Ocarina of Time game...which I have NEVER played before two days ago...and he is only six so his understanding is limited as well...but together we got somewhat far, mostly because I shamelessly used friends Kerri & Brent., who are good at these things.
I tried to get him to go to the pool and stuff but he was pretty single-minded, wanting to get further in this game. We did make a run to my house where he let fishes suck on his fingers in the pond, and stopped at Home Depot to get keys made..other than that, home all day. Miss Kerri came around 2pm for a while to help him out with the game which is really nice.
One of the few times I coaxed him away for a break ended up being quite a success. We cut up blank pieces of paper into squares...then wrote silly things on them for family members. I wrote some, and he dictated some to me which I wrote down, and he decorated them all. Things completely ridiculous, like "Dear Bob, You are my Friend, Love, Mr. Tootlepops"....completely silly things. We then hid them all over the house, including about 10 in the brother's room, devoted to him. When he got home, he was THRILLED to find them all and read them all, laughing hysterically... he loved it. We'll probably repeat the experience tomorrow. I made sure the hiding was kept to surface areas so there wasn't any safety or snooping hazards, but it might still take a while to get them all! I once wrote a bunch of notes to Kerri & Brent from their cat that I was cat-sitting...I hid those more thoroughly though. LOL. I am highly amused by this practice. It's probably not that funny. ::sober look::
I ended up staying late to spend time with them and then met Brooke...we got ice cream and met my friend Christa and her doggie, woot, then we rented the worst movie in the entire world - I've wanted to watch it for like years cuz of my job that involved kids chatting about HSM endlessly and I never knew what they were talking about - it's like their Gone with the Wind. ANYWAY...now Beautiful Girls is on, and I did my dishes and Brooke is chilling on my foam bag watching the movie while I get ready to go shower.....I think tomorrow will be fun....I also get to see my friend Sarah and her family...they are soooo sweet to me. And I better pack for being gone for 20 days!!!!!!!!! Aughhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! Wednesday I drive to Nashville and stay with my friends Suzy and Arnie and meet another friend for dinner....Thursday morning I fly out to San Diego.
And my first two OT fieldworks are up in the air now, contract issues! Fieldwork coordinator is on the ball, but still! OMG! Augh! Somebody get me a Xanax prescription stat. Or a subscription. A weekly one. Ha. Ha.
Overall......ups and downs, but it's been a fun time........
I tried to get him to go to the pool and stuff but he was pretty single-minded, wanting to get further in this game. We did make a run to my house where he let fishes suck on his fingers in the pond, and stopped at Home Depot to get keys made..other than that, home all day. Miss Kerri came around 2pm for a while to help him out with the game which is really nice.
One of the few times I coaxed him away for a break ended up being quite a success. We cut up blank pieces of paper into squares...then wrote silly things on them for family members. I wrote some, and he dictated some to me which I wrote down, and he decorated them all. Things completely ridiculous, like "Dear Bob, You are my Friend, Love, Mr. Tootlepops"....completely silly things. We then hid them all over the house, including about 10 in the brother's room, devoted to him. When he got home, he was THRILLED to find them all and read them all, laughing hysterically... he loved it. We'll probably repeat the experience tomorrow. I made sure the hiding was kept to surface areas so there wasn't any safety or snooping hazards, but it might still take a while to get them all! I once wrote a bunch of notes to Kerri & Brent from their cat that I was cat-sitting...I hid those more thoroughly though. LOL. I am highly amused by this practice. It's probably not that funny. ::sober look::
I ended up staying late to spend time with them and then met Brooke...we got ice cream and met my friend Christa and her doggie, woot, then we rented the worst movie in the entire world - I've wanted to watch it for like years cuz of my job that involved kids chatting about HSM endlessly and I never knew what they were talking about - it's like their Gone with the Wind. ANYWAY...now Beautiful Girls is on, and I did my dishes and Brooke is chilling on my foam bag watching the movie while I get ready to go shower.....I think tomorrow will be fun....I also get to see my friend Sarah and her family...they are soooo sweet to me. And I better pack for being gone for 20 days!!!!!!!!! Aughhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! Wednesday I drive to Nashville and stay with my friends Suzy and Arnie and meet another friend for dinner....Thursday morning I fly out to San Diego.
And my first two OT fieldworks are up in the air now, contract issues! Fieldwork coordinator is on the ball, but still! OMG! Augh! Somebody get me a Xanax prescription stat. Or a subscription. A weekly one. Ha. Ha.
Overall......ups and downs, but it's been a fun time........
Oh. My. GOD.
I JUST WATCHED HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL AND IM ALMOST POSITIVE MY BRAIN JUST EXPLODED. THERE ARE NO WORDS.
MAKE ME MORE COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!
MAKE ME MORE COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Memorable moments for Carol, MOT I student...lol ok good night now
Ok I lied. NOW I am for sure going to bed after getting distracted. I had to share this...a MOT 1 student from my school wrote this on her new blog. Her name is Carol. I'm deleting a few names but its otherwise intact...I love it. Yay Carol!!!!!!
http://otkid.blogspot.com/
============================
Looking back through the semester, there are some memorable moments.
1.) The first time we saw our cadavers ( little awkward)
2.) Rick's "come together" hands
3.) Dr. Y's "What the hell are you doing??" haha! still makes me giggle
4.) Those LONG anatomy labs.... and the scary weekends in there with only a couple classmates
5.) Visiting Chattanooga ( I think my head still hurts from squinting at the erlanger screen)
6.) Lunches outside and with friends
7.) Conference with Brittney (BLAST!)
8.) Study groups & studying in the park
9.) Nights out having fun, when we should be studying or working on a
take-home final (oh...Tugs)
10.) Going to the zoo, playing with my
new OT friends, and justifying all of it by saying "well, we are just
balancing our occupations!"
11.) Playing video games in the SAC as a study break or going into the hot tub down!
12.) Jay's brown pencil when he is lecturing
13.) Spending my life savings at Los Compradres
14.) Pretending to be an OT during the Peds Labs giving evals
15.) Fieldwork at XYZ Children's Institute- Learning I have alot to learn!
16.) GROUP PROJECTS & PRESENTATIONS (Disha being in almost every group )
17.) In class all day and studying till 12 at night
18.) Dori's Dance
19.) Habitat for Humanity
20.) Everyone being sick at one point, poor Cody especially!
21.) Engagements, rings ... (congrats kendal, jennifer)
22.) SURVIVING OUR FIRST SEMESTER NOW TO BECOME MOT IIs!
http://otkid.blogspot.com/
============================
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Wow, time goes by fast
Looking back through the semester, there are some memorable moments.
1.) The first time we saw our cadavers ( little awkward)
2.) Rick's "come together" hands
3.) Dr. Y's "What the hell are you doing??" haha! still makes me giggle
4.) Those LONG anatomy labs.... and the scary weekends in there with only a couple classmates
5.) Visiting Chattanooga ( I think my head still hurts from squinting at the erlanger screen)
6.) Lunches outside and with friends
7.) Conference with Brittney (BLAST!)
8.) Study groups & studying in the park
9.) Nights out having fun, when we should be studying or working on a
take-home final (oh...Tugs)
10.) Going to the zoo, playing with my
new OT friends, and justifying all of it by saying "well, we are just
balancing our occupations!"
11.) Playing video games in the SAC as a study break or going into the hot tub down!
12.) Jay's brown pencil when he is lecturing
13.) Spending my life savings at Los Compradres
14.) Pretending to be an OT during the Peds Labs giving evals
15.) Fieldwork at XYZ Children's Institute- Learning I have alot to learn!
16.) GROUP PROJECTS & PRESENTATIONS (Disha being in almost every group )
17.) In class all day and studying till 12 at night
18.) Dori's Dance
19.) Habitat for Humanity
20.) Everyone being sick at one point, poor Cody especially!
21.) Engagements, rings ... (congrats kendal, jennifer)
22.) SURVIVING OUR FIRST SEMESTER NOW TO BECOME MOT IIs!
Is not so grate acshually...
I decided to end this blog blitz of about 3 hours with some irrelevant pictures. Everything below this post is relevant to occupational therapy though.
Arnie sent me this picture of seniors fencing....I used to be fencing club president at my undergrad college.....love it! I guess this one is technically relevant to OT. Let's move on to irrelevant and irreverant.
This is a spin off of the Charlie the Unicorn youtube video but it cracks me up so. Yeah. See, it's funny because the giraffe is shunning the duck. By pointing at him. And saying Shunnnnnnnn just like they do in the Charlie Unicorn video when they are trying to convince him to go to Candy Mountain. Ha ha ha ha! Are you laughing yet? ::crickets chirp, blank stares::: Ok moving on...
Me corrupting the two Norwegian girls, Hannah and Madelyn, with the joy of colored garage sale stickers....we had WAY too much fun with those things. My Norwegian host mother, host mother's best friend, host sister and her husband and two daughters came to the USA! I drove up to Nashville to see them (staying near my friend Suzanne who they dearly love!) and then they came to Memphis for a day and we had a mini party at Kerri & Brent's. These two little girls are truly amazingly well-behaved.
Quality time with the most adorable children IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! French fries make everything better.
Arnie sent me this picture of seniors fencing....I used to be fencing club president at my undergrad college.....love it! I guess this one is technically relevant to OT. Let's move on to irrelevant and irreverant.
This is a spin off of the Charlie the Unicorn youtube video but it cracks me up so. Yeah. See, it's funny because the giraffe is shunning the duck. By pointing at him. And saying Shunnnnnnnn just like they do in the Charlie Unicorn video when they are trying to convince him to go to Candy Mountain. Ha ha ha ha! Are you laughing yet? ::crickets chirp, blank stares::: Ok moving on...
Me corrupting the two Norwegian girls, Hannah and Madelyn, with the joy of colored garage sale stickers....we had WAY too much fun with those things. My Norwegian host mother, host mother's best friend, host sister and her husband and two daughters came to the USA! I drove up to Nashville to see them (staying near my friend Suzanne who they dearly love!) and then they came to Memphis for a day and we had a mini party at Kerri & Brent's. These two little girls are truly amazingly well-behaved.
Quality time with the most adorable children IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! French fries make everything better.
I'm at the brink of AOTA meltdown...:::totters:::
Augh! AOTA, you're killing me!
I get AOTA's 1-minute updates and I wanted to post about several of the articles mentioned in it....like about the Centennial Vision, mental health OT for veterans, etc....but most of it was members-only! DUDE! There aren't any crazy secrets in these articles! I have a membership but I'm too lazy to type in my information right now after hours of cleaning out my email box so I've given up!
Plus P.Mo doesn't love me ::cries::
Oh well, as long as Sam of Social Media doesn't blacklist me or whatever (I like to think we're BFF4EVA even if we've only talked like once), I'll try to survive this cruel AOTA-inflicted pain. It hurts. It hurts like the long dog scratch on my leg from doggy-water-hose fun time this morning. :x
I LOVE YOU AOTA! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU PASSIONATELY FOR SUPPORTING AND ADVOCATING AND FUNDRAISING AND LOVING AND ENDORSING AND ADVERTISING BUT IF YOU DON'T LOVE ME BACK SOON I AM GOING TO GO ummmmmmmmmmm.....well I don't really have any other options so I guess I'll just deal with it. Ok, I promise to love you unconditionally, AOTA.
I get AOTA's 1-minute updates and I wanted to post about several of the articles mentioned in it....like about the Centennial Vision, mental health OT for veterans, etc....but most of it was members-only! DUDE! There aren't any crazy secrets in these articles! I have a membership but I'm too lazy to type in my information right now after hours of cleaning out my email box so I've given up!
Plus P.Mo doesn't love me ::cries::
Oh well, as long as Sam of Social Media doesn't blacklist me or whatever (I like to think we're BFF4EVA even if we've only talked like once), I'll try to survive this cruel AOTA-inflicted pain. It hurts. It hurts like the long dog scratch on my leg from doggy-water-hose fun time this morning. :x
I LOVE YOU AOTA! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU PASSIONATELY FOR SUPPORTING AND ADVOCATING AND FUNDRAISING AND LOVING AND ENDORSING AND ADVERTISING BUT IF YOU DON'T LOVE ME BACK SOON I AM GOING TO GO ummmmmmmmmmm.....well I don't really have any other options so I guess I'll just deal with it. Ok, I promise to love you unconditionally, AOTA.
Kids with food allergies
Most kids seen by OTs tend to have more than one issue...and a common issue is food allergies.
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/
Great resource.
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/
Great resource.
Urinary incontinence isn't just for doctors to treat...
Did you know Urinary Incontinence can sometimes be helped by physical and occupational therapy?
http://rehabilitation-director.advanceweb.com/Editorial/Content/Editorial.aspx?cc=114799
http://rehabilitation-director.advanceweb.com/Editorial/Content/Editorial.aspx?cc=114799
Two pediatric OT (vaguely) random stories!!
Two random personal stories:
I babysat some kids recently and we played an impromptu game called "Was it the time...?"....because the 7 year-old, let's call him Bob, said, Guess what, and I said what? And he started to tell me something and I interrupted him (ok that was rude of me) to ask Wait! Was it the time your eyeballs fell out and then you used them as marbles? The kids (Bob and 6 year-old Pete) thought that was hilarious and we all went around taking turns saying things like "Was it the time...your head fell off? Was it the time you turned into an alligator"? They were cracking up and eagerly taking turns coming up with silly scenarios. This sounds like a completely stupid and/or random game (and it was), but it's actually also working on quite a few skills. (Skills that come easily for many kids but are great to work on with kids with some delays)
1) Social skills - taking turns participating - responding to each others comments appropriately by laughing or groaning - coming up with answers based on something just heard - being patient - knowing how "far" to go before it becomes inappropriate, including picking up on the cues of others.
2) Imagination - appreciating the absurd and having fun thinking up ideas that have not or would not actually occur...
3) Sibling rivalry - kids nearly the same age fight sooo much...a game like this is very silly and it's all about laughing...not trying to win a contest or show who is better...
---
4) It's great for an OT to watch...to observe how well the child participates in such a game...can he wait his turn...can he laugh appropriately...can he keep his comments appropriate for the age group...can he modify his statements based on what he has just heard...can he come up with absurd ideas that he has clearly not encountered before...can he appreciate silliness and come up with something funny...can he speak clearly and quickly...etc etc.
It doesn't matter what game you play...you can learn a lot by observing!
================
Story two that I originally intended to write up like a month ago:
I had an encounter with a child today who had holoproencephaly and spina bifida. She was an 11-year old girl with big sparkly blue eyes. She only weighed thirty pounds. She was in a special wheelchair with bilateral AFOs and she was "airplane-ing" her arms. She is nonverbal, apraxic, and has limited understanding. Most children with holoproencephaly are essentially "vegetables" - nonresponsive living beings. She defies this definition as she CLEARLY shows some responses and is social....she is probably at the level of a 3 month old though in most ways.
This little girl was present at a graduation party and I was immediately intrigued by her...This beautiful blond toddler-sized girl in an elaborate wheelchair. It was a FunKart or something by Sunrise I believe...I forget now. Her parents were AMAZING and treated her the same way they would treat any young girl...offering her choices even if she couldn't truly make them, talking to her normally...patient and loving and sweet. I held her hands and smiled and talked to her and asked her parents questions. They certainly knew what OT was as they had lots of experience with her and OT, even though she was no longer receiving it! I was confused as to why she had some types of therapy but not others. I handed her a pretty napkin that she grabbed and enjoyed looking at ...you have to wonder if she gets bored. She can certainly cry if she isn't happy.
I was trying to think of what you would do with a child like this...one who is at such a low level with no likelihood for progress...just consultation and maintenance I guess? Like ensuring no pressure sores, wheelchair maintenance, making sure caregivers have access to transportation aids, etc?
I asked her mom about the Ashley Treatment (one of my obsessions) as Ashley is very similar to this girl except that Ashley is essentially nonresponsive while this little girl is responsive. She said she could understand both sides and why Ashley's parents wanted her to remain as small as possible...they had been lucky their little girl was only 30 pounds and probably wouldn't get much bigger...but couldn't imagine how much harder it would be if she were a normal sized child.
Her spina bifida wasn't much of an issue apparently since her holoproencephaly kind of um, dwarved it. She was incontinent but that was about it. I watched her get her clothes changed and eat and stuff....very interesting.
She was a beautiful little girl....sweet and glowing...and I was really happy to get a chance to observe her and spend time with her in a non-clinical setting. I am going to admit that I am extremely intimidated by children with CP or other issues where it is hard to determine responsiveness...and especially children in elaborate wheelchairs. I feel completely useless and stupid...like...what can I give you as an OT that has never encountered this, that you as her full-time parent don't already know?.....
If my professors read that line they would all have immediate heart attacks since the whole point of OT and our curriculum involves knowing the answer to this question....we have access to many resources parents don't know about....have many tricks up our sleeves...etc. So it's not truly that I wouldn't have anything to offer...but when I sit there trying to figure out even how to like, adjust the wheelchair, and the parent watches me fumble, I feel like it wouldn't be much of a confidence-booster for any of us. This is just hypothetical - this hasn't been an issue - but I imagine it would be!!! I guess practice makes perfect.
Student comments re OT that made me laugh and/or are awesome......
Jamie is a second year OT at UTMB and commented...."I love reading your blog because I think
our curriculum seems to overlap at times. I love to
read what your thinking but on most days, it's what
I'm thinking... professional development
evals--come on lets get serious?!" ......AHAHAHAHAAHA
Amen sister! I love you Jamie! And I mean that seriously, in a non-serious way.
Paulette is an an upcoming university
senior ....She wrote me and explained that she is "extremely interested in going to OT
graduate school. I just learned of the profession 2
months ago however so what I know about OT is what
I've been able to glean from the internet (Your
blog included!) I've always been interested in the
health-care field but I've finally feel like I've
found my niche in OT as it really seems to
emphasize the holistic and creative nature of
individual care that I really like. I will most
likely have a year between college and graduate
school to work and finish the prerequisites so I'd
like to really familiarize myself with the field.
I was wondering if you have a list of literature
you'd recommend? Fiction, non-fiction, etc.
Love your blog, keep up the good work :)"
I told her she should try for the Healing Heart by John Carlova...The Out of Sync Child...and that she should hit up the health section of her library and read any autobiography/biography of anything she finds there...any other suggestions? I'm sure I'm missing some biggies, obviously. Good luck Paulette!!
our curriculum seems to overlap at times. I love to
read what your thinking but on most days, it's what
I'm thinking... professional development
evals--come on lets get serious?!" ......AHAHAHAHAAHA
Amen sister! I love you Jamie! And I mean that seriously, in a non-serious way.
Paulette is an an upcoming university
senior ....She wrote me and explained that she is "extremely interested in going to OT
graduate school. I just learned of the profession 2
months ago however so what I know about OT is what
I've been able to glean from the internet (Your
blog included!) I've always been interested in the
health-care field but I've finally feel like I've
found my niche in OT as it really seems to
emphasize the holistic and creative nature of
individual care that I really like. I will most
likely have a year between college and graduate
school to work and finish the prerequisites so I'd
like to really familiarize myself with the field.
I was wondering if you have a list of literature
you'd recommend? Fiction, non-fiction, etc.
Love your blog, keep up the good work :)"
I told her she should try for the Healing Heart by John Carlova...The Out of Sync Child...and that she should hit up the health section of her library and read any autobiography/biography of anything she finds there...any other suggestions? I'm sure I'm missing some biggies, obviously. Good luck Paulette!!
Second Life for "Gimps"
Cookie Gimp writes...
Have you noticed on YouTube there is a video of an OT dept/faculty (I think based in PA) that has an office in Second Life? If you don't know what Second Life is, you probably should look it up in wikipedia first. It's a fictional world but more and more services and people have a presence in Second Life. You might want to post about this. On a different but related note, there is a Second Life economy (i.e. I am not into this but apparently one can create a business in SL and earn money that you can convert into real money) and some "severely" disabled people that are not easily employable in the real world are engaging in SL businesses and gaining independence that way. That raises an incredible number of ethical questions but there's no question gimps have always been empowered by computers (I have met most of my exes that way). I mean disability is easily transcended by computers. But my main objective was just to let you know about this and maybe you should get your OT faculty to create a Second Life site.
=====
Hey Cookie Gimp...Second Life has definitely been in the news a lot lately for reasons such as what you posted...it can definitely open up new worlds for people. Unfortunately I'm not smart enough for it. My one or two exposures led me to frustration and a bunch of naked dancing avatars. I guess I should try again...lol
PS: I still feel bad saying "gimp"!!
Have you noticed on YouTube there is a video of an OT dept/faculty (I think based in PA) that has an office in Second Life? If you don't know what Second Life is, you probably should look it up in wikipedia first. It's a fictional world but more and more services and people have a presence in Second Life. You might want to post about this. On a different but related note, there is a Second Life economy (i.e. I am not into this but apparently one can create a business in SL and earn money that you can convert into real money) and some "severely" disabled people that are not easily employable in the real world are engaging in SL businesses and gaining independence that way. That raises an incredible number of ethical questions but there's no question gimps have always been empowered by computers (I have met most of my exes that way). I mean disability is easily transcended by computers. But my main objective was just to let you know about this and maybe you should get your OT faculty to create a Second Life site.
=====
Hey Cookie Gimp...Second Life has definitely been in the news a lot lately for reasons such as what you posted...it can definitely open up new worlds for people. Unfortunately I'm not smart enough for it. My one or two exposures led me to frustration and a bunch of naked dancing avatars. I guess I should try again...lol
PS: I still feel bad saying "gimp"!!
Blogs, listservs, YouTube, OT -related, yay OT, OT is awesome, OT is neat-o
Went from 104 to 38 mails to deal with..a lot of it is blog-related...gonna do a single post involving all computer-related events....
YOUTUBE:
1) AOTA hired a Social Media Manager dude named Sam....he recently contacted me....we chatted on AIM, at which time he promptly ran away screaming at my excessive level of Internet energy. He's been working hard getting set up or "remodeling" AOTA's Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, AIM, you name it...and in fact, if you go to youtube.com/user/AOTAInc, one of his "favorites" videos is an ACLS assessment video I made of Kerri and Allison...we love you Sam!!!
Also youtube wise...I continue to get comments on some of the OT videos...most recently was one on the ALCS video saying wonderful job.....and one on Anna's Pediatric Treatment that praised its creativity...search for OTStudentKaren on YouTube....haven't posted anything besides the Miss OTPF pageant in a while.
Janine left a comment in my OT toolbox video that was quite interesting......"Every good OT should know about this special (computer)
keyboard (called: Lucy) I have cp myself and made a video about it. I
operate with a laser mounted on my glasses, I'm able to do so very much
because of Lucy. I'd like to let as many people as possible know about
it, so more people can benefit from this great keyboard. And maybe you
have one patient who might be able to use Lucy. As I always say: If you
can't use your hands, be smart, use your head!"
LISTSERVS:
My state OT Association Listserv is going through some pain right now...a lot of OTs don't know how to use stservs properly (and don't read the instructions) and so there has been all sorts of e-mails sent to the group instead of to an individual...which leads to everyone responding to the group asking to be unsubscribed...which leads to more angry e-mails...which leads to chaos...and me laughing...because nothing makes me laugh more than a self righteous email saying "Everyone abuses this listserv and doesn't use it right and unsubscribe me right away..." and yet they send it to the group instead of the clearly defined unsubscribe directions at the bottom of EVERY mail. Ha ha ha ha ha!!! Wow I'm a bad person.
OTHER BLOGS:
New blog... to me at least...http://melodybarker.blogspot.com/
She is a second year Otago Polytech OT student..which is in New Zealand.....hello famed New Zealand OT blog pioneers...
MY BLOG:
Liberty just e-mailed me...like seconds ago...she starts an OT program in Oregon this August and thanked me for blogging....we've talked in the past and she has a crazy three legged St. Bernard that she goes to places with to teach tolerance... and it's so awesome... (www.emmettdog.com) . She acted like I wouldn't remember her and I am like YOU HAVE A THREE LEGGED DOG OF COURSE I REMEMBER YOU. She is so sweet.
Okay that's it for technology related crap. Still got several other stuff to post....coming shortly. I want a cinnamon graham cracker.
YOUTUBE:
1) AOTA hired a Social Media Manager dude named Sam....he recently contacted me....we chatted on AIM, at which time he promptly ran away screaming at my excessive level of Internet energy. He's been working hard getting set up or "remodeling" AOTA's Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, AIM, you name it...and in fact, if you go to youtube.com/user/AOTAInc, one of his "favorites" videos is an ACLS assessment video I made of Kerri and Allison...we love you Sam!!!
Also youtube wise...I continue to get comments on some of the OT videos...most recently was one on the ALCS video saying wonderful job.....and one on Anna's Pediatric Treatment that praised its creativity...search for OTStudentKaren on YouTube....haven't posted anything besides the Miss OTPF pageant in a while.
Janine left a comment in my OT toolbox video that was quite interesting......"Every good OT should know about this special (computer)
keyboard (called: Lucy) I have cp myself and made a video about it. I
operate with a laser mounted on my glasses, I'm able to do so very much
because of Lucy. I'd like to let as many people as possible know about
it, so more people can benefit from this great keyboard. And maybe you
have one patient who might be able to use Lucy. As I always say: If you
can't use your hands, be smart, use your head!"
LISTSERVS:
My state OT Association Listserv is going through some pain right now...a lot of OTs don't know how to use stservs properly (and don't read the instructions) and so there has been all sorts of e-mails sent to the group instead of to an individual...which leads to everyone responding to the group asking to be unsubscribed...which leads to more angry e-mails...which leads to chaos...and me laughing...because nothing makes me laugh more than a self righteous email saying "Everyone abuses this listserv and doesn't use it right and unsubscribe me right away..." and yet they send it to the group instead of the clearly defined unsubscribe directions at the bottom of EVERY mail. Ha ha ha ha ha!!! Wow I'm a bad person.
OTHER BLOGS:
New blog... to me at least...http://melodybarker.blogspot.com/
She is a second year Otago Polytech OT student..which is in New Zealand.....hello famed New Zealand OT blog pioneers...
MY BLOG:
Liberty just e-mailed me...like seconds ago...she starts an OT program in Oregon this August and thanked me for blogging....we've talked in the past and she has a crazy three legged St. Bernard that she goes to places with to teach tolerance... and it's so awesome... (www.emmettdog.com) . She acted like I wouldn't remember her and I am like YOU HAVE A THREE LEGGED DOG OF COURSE I REMEMBER YOU. She is so sweet.
Okay that's it for technology related crap. Still got several other stuff to post....coming shortly. I want a cinnamon graham cracker.
Rah rah sis boom bah
This morning I woke up feeling peppier than I have for a while. I went outside and played with my landlord and his dog- they were playing with the hose. Then we gave him a bath and the dog ran STRAIGHT into me without stopping at one point and I totally wasn't prepared (he was just really excited, it wasn't intentional), so now I have a nice beautiful scratch on my thigh, lol.
I took a sunbath for a while and now I'm writing this. My plan for the day involves first dancing around the house for about 30 minutes, lol, then showering and going to my friend Angela's birthday brunch, then to go hold babies at the hospital (it didn't work out yesterday), then come home to go walking with the landlords and dog, then eventually head to Kerri & Brent's to spend the night since I babysit early tomorrow morning in that area!
I have completed all filing thanks to some help from a friend who dutifully filled up binders for me, and best of all, went through and deciphered all of my professor Rosemary's handwritten comments in my graded work!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA....now I just need to finish a diversity paper, a blog project, and some other random chores. La la la.
Ok off to dance poorly and wildly around my house, woot woot
I took a sunbath for a while and now I'm writing this. My plan for the day involves first dancing around the house for about 30 minutes, lol, then showering and going to my friend Angela's birthday brunch, then to go hold babies at the hospital (it didn't work out yesterday), then come home to go walking with the landlords and dog, then eventually head to Kerri & Brent's to spend the night since I babysit early tomorrow morning in that area!
I have completed all filing thanks to some help from a friend who dutifully filled up binders for me, and best of all, went through and deciphered all of my professor Rosemary's handwritten comments in my graded work!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA....now I just need to finish a diversity paper, a blog project, and some other random chores. La la la.
Ok off to dance poorly and wildly around my house, woot woot
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