Typical Day
Typical Session, hospital setting:
Una is almost completely booked today, so it's a good thing she wore her comfy shoes. Her next patient is Joss Goway, who is waiting in the exam room with his wife. Joss suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, which causes swelling and pain in his joints. Dawn Goway is worried because her husband has stopped cooking and attending his weekly poker games, two of his favorite activities. Una starts to explain a little about how OT can help, but Joss sighs loudly, and says, "Well, that's great, but I don't think there's anything you can do. This is just my life, now." Una moves her chair closer, and looks him in the eye.
"Mr. Goway, I completely understand your anger. But it's not fair to you or your wife to lock yourself away from the world. I want you to enjoy your retirement. Even if it means blowing your social security check on card games."
Joss laughs in spite of himself, and his smile widens when Una lays out a plan of attack for modifying his kitchen and swapping old habits for new ones which are easier on his joints. When she shows him how to use a bristle brush to display his cards during poker and attach tabs to the chips for easy handling, he gets a little choked up. Una smiles warmly, and begins to write out their new list of goals.
Typical Session, School:
Today Hannah is in Mrs. Maroni's classroom, sitting at a table with Louka Datt. Louka is a bundle of activity, as always...jiggling his legs up and down, doing impressions, and jumping out of his seat to look at the books on the shelf. Hannah lets him wiggle for a minute, and then attracts his attention with a joke:
"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Sid."
"Sid who?"
"Sid down, it's time to begin!"
Louka laughs giddily, and sits down. Hannah tells him to bring out his folder, which he does...in two pieces. Hannah instructs him to pick up the papers, one at a time, and lay them on the desk, no wrinkles. Louka smooths them out enthusiastically, and finds the homework paper Hannah asks for.
"Okay, Louka. Now what do we do?"
"Stuff!"
"Now what do we do, Louka?"
"Squeeze hugs!"
"That's right. Let's do it." Hannah lightly but firmly grips his fingers, and squeezes them together 10 times. She moves her hands to his wrists, gently pressing his hand towards his arm, and repeats with his elbows and shoulders. Louka watches calmly, and looks up at her to see what will happen next.
Hannah hands him a chewable topper for his pencil, and settles noise-cancelling headphones over his ears. Louka looks down at his paper, and settles down to his task. This math test is toast!
Typical Session, Senior care:
Happy Home Assisted Living has 43 senior residents who keep Rick on his toes. Rick's first patient of the day is Kent Moov, who suffers from Parkinson's and has difficulty walking. Rick and Kent have already worked on a couple solutions, like stopping conversation while moving, and making a wide "u-turn" to change direction. Today, Rick pulls out what looks like a Bluetooth headset. Kent raises an eyebrow when Rick tells him what it is. "A metronome? What, are we gonna play clarinets or something?"
"Trust me," Rick says, and clips the metronome to Kent's ear. "I've worked with two Parkinson's patients before who swear by this. Just listen to the beat for a moment, and keep time with your hand. In a few minutes, we're going to try walking, very slowly, and I want you to think about timing your steps this way: 'One, two, three, step. One, two, three, step.' This is going to give your brain a cue to move your foot to the beat. Okay?"
"Okay, son. You never steered me wrong, before." Kent gives it a try, and cackles when his feet start to clomp in time to the tick-tocking beat. After a few turns around the room, Rick helps him to a chair, and clicks off the metronome.
"This is fine, Rick. Just fine. But I have a question."
"Sure, Kent, what's that?"
"Now can you teach me how to cha-cha with the Widow Johnson?"
Typical Session, Special needs/disabilities:
Hamid says hello to the Tugroe family, and then turns to open the door to the therapy room. Star Tugroe runs past him to the swing, and starts to rock back and forth. She loves the swing, and it's a good icebreaker for the session. Hamid swings her in different directions, and holds out a stuffed penguin for her to grab. Star squeals, and grabs at it. Hamid is trying to get Star to "cross her midline," by moving one hand over to the opposite side. She's improving, but her left hand still hesitates, letting the right one take over.
After a few minutes, Hamid slows the swing, and Star hops off, heading for the balance beam. As she tiptoes across it, Hamid readies the giant lime-colored pillow at one end. "Okay, time to jump, Star! Jump into the soft grass!" Star flops into the pillow, and circles back to do it again. This belly flop technique is designed to increase feedback between Star's body and brain.
At the end of the session, Hamid goes out to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Tugroe. He gives them an update of Star's progress, and suggests a few play activities they can do at home. Hamid rings them up at the desk (the Tugroe's insurance doesn't cover pediatric occupational therapy) and gives Star a sticker. Star doesn't like the feeling of stickers on her skin, but she keeps them in a box at home. Of course, the star-shaped ones are her favorite.