Blog 5-Activity Analysis

This was by far a great day! I loved sitting down to learn how an activity is described....step by step. in my group we learned how to: make lemonade, make a friendship bracelet, have a Nerf gun war, make a PB&J, and make a paper crown. The one that changed my life was  "how to make a PB&J." We were instructed to get bread out and we could put PB on one side or both. I have always been a  one sided PB person. I decided to try the two sides of PB. The two side of PB keeps the jelly from sinking into the bread. We all placed jelly on our bread and prepared to devour our creation. It was amazing!! I have never tasted anything so amazing. I learned a new way to make a sandwich today. I did struggle with the friendship bracelet. I have made them before but this was a new way. I could not wrap my mind around how the fingers, stings, and motions all related. This activity had to be graded down for me. After about 5 minutes I understood the technique and was able to complete my bracelet. The other activities will be great to take and place in a folder of OT ideas. I can not wait to use these ideas and my experiences to see how OT can apply in all situations.

Foundations Blog 4-Fletcher Cleaves

We recently had a visitor come to class. His name is Fletcher Cleaves. He came to speak to our class about his spinal cord injury. I was very moved by his perseverance. Doctors told him that he would never be able to do certain things again and he would have huge limitations. He did not let any of those things hold him back. He adapted to his environment and learned to do things differently. I do believe it helped that he was an athlete. This helped with his recovery time and perseverance that he already had from being on the field and training. Fletcher's message is one that has been heard before, "do not text and drive. " He shared the three things people are usually doing while driving and two were very surprising! they were: Netflix and youtube. This shocked me. Who would do either of these while driving? Then I remembered, my husband has before. On long road trips he will plug Netflix into the radio and listen to a show or movie while driving. This helps to keep him awake. He can be ADHD sometime....well most times. I think a great research opportunity would be to see if there is a correlation of distracted drivers and ADHD. ADHD is commonly diagnosed. Technology has also helped to consume our time and assists those with ADHD in being able to get distracted. I would believe that there is a correlation. I think this would be an amazing study. Back to Fletcher, I am glad that AT&T has backed him and is giving him a platform to share his story with the world. #TheSkyisNOTtheLimit
Attached is a copy of Fletcher's video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kBaLbubNd4&feature=youtu.be

Chucky Mullins-OT537

The life of Chucky Mullins is something that is well remembered at Ole Miss. The football player tragically suffered a spinal cord injury from a tackle on 10/28/1988. The injury happened to the cervical spine and left Chucky paralyzed from the neck down. Even though Chucky seemed to be the one in pain, it did not stop him from motivating others. Ole Miss athletics quotes him as a player who motivated other to live life to their fullest, even after his injury. Also, I thought that it was great to see how Ole Miss athletics rallied behind Chucky and did all that they could to help support him in his desire to return to school. They tied to modify his living quarters as much as they could to make his transition easier. I believe an OT would have been very insightful in helping Chucky develop a plan for attending classes and how to complete the course work for his classes. Sadly, Chucky passed before he was ever able to finish school. His legacy is still remembered and embodied at Ole Miss to this day.

Foundations Blog 3

Today we talked about professional development. Something that I have wondered about our program is why we have so many volunteer hours that we have to sign up for. The PT program does not have to keep a list of volunteer hours, nor are they required to do as many as we are. This is all information that I have heard, but it could be different now. Thankfully it was described today as to why we have so many hours to keep track of and participate in. It is for our a professional development. This is a key part of keeping our liscensure from the sate and NBCOT. As well as, being a active learner to further our knowledge and understanding. Professional development keeps OTs in line with new research established and helps keep them from any ethical dilemmas that they may face. The hours of service that we take part in help to further our knowledge and hone or clinical eye. Professional development=great idea.

Foundations blog 2

Last week and this week we have been discussing SOAP notes and how to write them. I have been exposed to SOAP notes before. I use to be a receptionist at a veterinary hospital. Sometimes we would have to read through veterinarians physical exam (SOAP notes) notes to answer a question that an owner had. There were five doctors at the practice and only one followed the SOAP notes similar to what we do. I appreciated this vet! It made understanding what was going on with the patient easier and finding information that had been discussed with the owner easier, so that we were not always bugging the vet. I understand the importance of writing a good SOAP note. The SOAP note used at the vets office is similar to what OT's use. A SOAP not is defined as follows: S-subjective (what client says), O-objective (what OT sees or does), A-assessment (interpretation of S & O), and P-plan (goals). I was confused on how the 'A' applied in OT. When I look at the word assessment, I think of a test to be performed on a client. It wasn't until further explanation that the 'A' is the summary of the 'S' and 'O' that the process made sense. I am excited to try my hand at writing a SOAP note. I want to be proficient at writing SOAP notes. I know how much I relied on an individual being proficient with their notes. I realized that insurance companies or other therapists will rely on my notes on day in the same way.

Foundations Blog 1

In class we talked about the importance of clinical reasoning. Clinical reasoning is the thought process used to evaluate clients and then designing and carry out intervention. An advantage that OT's have with clinical reasoning is we can consider our emotions with clinical reasoning. We are able to empathize with clients to see where they are at. Their emotional state is of great importance to our holistic approach. If someone is sad over a problem they are having, it can effect the way they perform in therapy. An OT would want to get that individual back to performing at their highest level possible. If that means taking time to talk with someone about their problem, then we will. Occupational therapy overlaps many fields. The empathy that we use with a client helps with our clinical reasoning to help a person reach their goal through he intervention plan we have laid out.

Neuro Note #1

We have been talking about different types of TBI's (traumatic brain injuries) in class and the effects coma can have on the brain. As I was sitting in class listening to the coma lecture, I remembered a guy from college that got hit by a boat and lived to tell his story. His story does not compare to what the research says about TBI's and coma. His story is an exception to the rule. 

Tyson Ward had just finished his junior year at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga (UTC). He was spending his summer at home with his family. Something that he and his dad loved to do was compete in bass fishing competitions. They went out on the lake a few hours one night to practice, because Tyson would be competing in his first competition by himself that weekend. That night Tyson's mom got a call no mother or wife wants to get. It was about a boating accident that her son and husband had been in and they were both critical.

The blog that Tyson wrote recounts his version of the story and what family and friends told him happened. It goes into detail of what he experienced from the accident till he returned for his senior year at UTC. In his blog he describes the affects of the 99 day coma he experienced. Because he was in a coma, he lost alot of weight. He described his weight loss as a sign that his body was trying to heal. He recounts it as follows, "I was told with the kinds of injuries I had experienced, and the severity to which my injuries went, my body was losing 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day. Being in a coma isn’t just lying around in a bed all day doing nothing. A coma is a time when your brain and your body are working serious overtime trying to repair whatever has been damaged. It was explained to me in this way, your brain chooses to go into a coma when your brain is not in good enough shape to keep you in an awake/aware state and repair all your body’s injuries. Your brain is able to intelligently make the choice that your body is in no sort of shape or circumstance to where it would be getting anything positive done by being in an awake state, so your body chooses to stay in a comatose state so that your brain has more energy devoted to it to repairing itself. But when your body is in bad enough shape to make this decision, your brain is obviously going to need some serious repair, which is how doctors could look at my situation, and tell my mom that my brain was burning 2-3,000 calories a day, just trying to get itself back up and running again." I like how Tyson phrased this. From examining coma in class, I look at a person in a coma in a negative way. It is a problem that a person has and the outcome from coma is usually not good. The outcomes usually have lifelong limitations with performing ADL's. While Tyson has experienced some limitations from his TBI and coma, his description of an individual being in a coma is one that gives hope. It again proves that every TBI is different. As health professionals, we tey to standarize diagnosis. It is good to know the standard for a diagnosis, but we have to keep in mind that there may be an exception to our standard that happens every so often.

The medical staff that helped Tyson recover, were amazing. Tyson notes the dedication as faithful to him and the career they choose. This is seen in the following section from Tyson's blog, "I have been told that while I was recovering from surgery in my bed at Shepherd Center, therapists would take time to do therapies with me (it was a brain injury hospital), but they were getting the same response that the people from Select Specialty in Nashville were getting, pretty much nowhere. But they kept at it, doing their job and doing all they could day after day, to which I owe them the world if I could give it to them." They did not give up on Tyson, nor did they discount what they were doing was helping in a way that was unseen to them at the time. After he woke from coma, he had multiple therapists including occupational therapists. They helped him relearn his ADL's and IADL's. Tyson used the example of relearning to brush his teeth with his left hand. His right hand contracted while he was in a coma. He was use to doing things with his right hand, it felt weird to consider his left hand the dominant hand now. 

The biggest take away I have from reading Tyson's blog is that every diagnosis of a TBI and coma is different. As health professionals we can try to predict what will happen to better prepare an individuals family. But each brain is different and will react different ly to the trauma received. An occupational therapists job is to be faithful to a client and the goals for that person to provide the best therapy for them. 


Ward, T. (2017, April 18). I got hit by a boat. Retrieved from: http://igothitbyaboat.webstarts.com/

Neuro OCP Daily Challenge #2

All of the reading for today's class class were very emotional. I listened to a podcast that talked of a woman living with a TBI and the struggles she faces. Her TBI occurred at work in an activity that she had performed often. She was helping a patient when she fell back, hitting her head. This made me think of all the times that I have been doing home improvements, falling of a horse, or acting silly without thinking of the consequences. At any of these moments I could have suffered a TBI, doing a routine activity. It really helps me tho empathize with patients and their families. This was not something that they choose, but something that happened. I want to be able to encourage clients and their families through any difficulties they face.

Daily Chanllenge #1 Neuro OCP

Hearing the definitions of disabled, from 1982 and 2009, shocked me. The field of occupational therapy has tried to rid the negative characteristics associated with the words from the vocabulary of the world. Maybe they started in the wrong place, maybe the definition of disabled should have be changed first. That way schools would not be teaching harsh words that are incorrect in describing disabled. Studies exit that show the effects of name calling and the psychological effects it has on a person. By calling an individual a name we are limiting them on what they can do, without meaning too. However, for some this categorizing gives motivation to succeed. An example would be Amiee Mullins, she did not know the definition of disabled. Now that she does shew wants to change the way people are viewing the definition. The difference in how we view and react to the definition depends on what stage of life we are in and how our brain views it.