Ashlyn's all about OT

     For this project, my client is Craig, a 36 year old man who was recently diagnosed with a C7 complete spinal cord injury. Craig owns a music retail store and has a wife who also works. Craig would normally work around 70 hours in his store and his hope of having the store is so that his wife could stop working once they have children. Craig fell off a ladder at his store and resulted in his spinal cord injury. He has flaccid paralysis in his upper and lower extremities. He has no sensation below the C7 level and requires assistance with ADL's, transfers, and mobility.      For my project I created a plastic holder for Craig to use at his music retail store that can attach to a wheelchair or walker. The idea I had was to create something where Craig could attach the holder to a wheelchair for him to be able to play CD's or other items into slots that are cut out on the top of the container. This would hold the items in place and give Craig an easier way...

 For this neuro note, I picked a story from the GBS/CIDP foundation website about a patient named Ariana. The story talked about how Ariana's diagnosis was inconclusive for a while until she became the first known child with Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) in Gibraltar. In the story, it talks about some of the treatment she had been given to alleviate some of her pain and the process her parents have been going through to support their child. Ariana is not her parents only child and so in the story it talks about how her parents want to be there for Ariana but not neglect their other children through this challenging time. i chose this resource because I never knew much about GBS and I thought it would be insightful to hear people's personal stories who have GBS.  In regards to our course content, I learned a little more about the kinds of treatment options that could be given for pain related to Ariana's diagnosis. I also learned about the importance of support, which we tal...

 I read the article entitled "Danielle's Story 'I am not MS, and MS is not me!'" and watched the youtube video at the end of the article. In the article, it gives a brief description about what multiple sclerosis (MS) is, some of the symptoms, and some general statistics about the disease. It goes on to talk about how Danielle was first diagnosed and how debilitating it was for her at first, but her doctors helped her get back to doing what she loves to do the most, ballet. The youtube video at the end of the article is a dance routine that Danielle performed after her diagnosis of MS and after some treatment. To further my learning on the topic of MS, I referred to my class notes to understand the symptoms and treatment options for MS.  In relation to the course content, I learned more about how even though there is no cure for MS, there is some treatment that can help with the symptoms of MS. Reading this article and watching the youtube video helped me realize ...

      I read an article called " A Meaningful Life". The article is about how Francesco 14 years ago fractured his spine from a pool diving accident. Francesco talks a lot in the article about how he is grateful for everyday of his life he still has. He describes how every moments of his life flashed before him when he was drowning but he was determined it was not his time to go yet. He did what doctors didn't think was possible, survive his accident. A lot of people always ask him what happened but Francesco said that on the anniversary of the accident he likes to ask himself that question. Although he is injured and needs more help than before the accident, he is grateful to still be here today. I used Dr. Lancasters notes as well as information from my case study to further my learning about spinal cord injuries (SCI). I chose this resource amongst others because I did a case study on a SCI and the accidents were very similar to one another, and I wanted to see ho...

 I read the article entitled "Margie Alley Plays Ping-Pong to Cope with Parkinson's Disease". The article talks about how Margie Alley was a tennis player who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease after a misdiagnosis from a podiatrist. Margie was having foot cramping when playing tennis and the podiatrist suggest surgery to fix the issue, but Margie continued to have pain after the operation along with more symptoms such as problems in the wrist, elbow, and knee of the left side. She eventually went to a neurologist where she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and put on medication so she could continue to play tennis. With her diagnosis, she fell quite a bit and was afraid of further injuring herself. She was going to physical therapy where she discovered there was an indoor table tennis court where Parkinson's patients would play. She got to continue playing a sport that was similar to the one she played before her diagnosis and it made her feel compet...

As part of the Neuro Aspects course I'm taking in OT school, I participated in a clinical simulation encounter today during which I administered a cognitive screening to a person with a recent history of  stroke. Cognition is being able to understand and process the knowledge that you gain throughout your life. OT's role in working with individuals with cognitive disorders can be to help with safety awareness, improving skills, making adjustments to the clients lifestyle to be more independent, and help maintain and improve occupational performance.  My clients score on the SLUMS was a 21 out of 30. This score indicates that the client has mild cognitive impairment. Meaning, my client could have challenges with remembering important dates/appointments, coming up with the appropriate words to use when speaking to others, or losing items/not remembering where they put them. I feel like I adapted my elevator speech to my client in a way that he would understand what it is OT's...

     I read a blog post entitled "I Got Hit By A Boat" by Tyson Ward to learn more about traumatic brain injuries (TBI). In the blog, Tyson tells the story about the time he and his dad were in a boating accident. Tyson was worse off than his father and was in the hospital for months on end with a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma for quite some time. He had been in rehab facilities, multiple different hospital, had many different surgeries but with no sign of any progression. His doctors told his mom he was going to need to be in a nursing home with full time care for the rest of his life. After 99 days of being in the hospital in a coma, Tyson miraculously woke up one morning. Tyson then goes on the explain the complications of his brain injury to he suffered with after waking up from the coma. Dr. Lancasters lecture on TBI was the extra material that I used to understand what was happening to Tyson as he told his story.       I chose this res...

     I read the article entitled "A Typical Day with Mild Cognitive Impairment". In the article, it talks about a project that was done by the University of Pennsylvania's Memory center where patients were to take pictures on a camera of a "typical day" living with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Afterwards, the patients discussed the aspects of their life that frustrate, facilitate, or challenge their memory. To further my learning I made sure to understand what MCI is and how it is diagnosed so I could better understand the article. I chose this resource amongst others because I have heard a lot about cognitive impairments, dementia, and Alzheimer's, but I never knew or heard of MCI. I wanted to learn about what MCI stood for/meant, and what the difference was from dementia or Alzheimer's.      In relation to our course content, I learned that it is important to consider caregivers as well as the patient when creating intervention strategies. In the...

     When your client needs assistive devices it is important to fit your client appropriately to ensure safety and proper use of the device. Devices are not usually a universal fit to everyone, so it is important to fit the equipment to your client's height and size to ensure safety. If it is not ft properly it will decrease the stability of the assistive device. It is also important to fit your client appropriately so that the device is at its maximum potential for function and performance. You don't want your client's device to not work properly because it is not fitted to your client correctly.      There are two types of canes a client could use: straight cane and quad canes. For both canes, you want to adjust the hand grips to be at the level of the ulnar styloid process, wrist crease, or greater trochanter. When making this adjustment, you want to make sure your clients elbows are relaxed, flexed at 20-30 degrees with shoulder relaxed and not el...

When I think of ad's that stuck out to me, I immediately think back to the 2010 World Cup ad. In this ad, they used the celebrity, Shakira, song "waka waka" and part of her music video in the ad (link to ad is below). I immediately think of this ad because that year when the World Cup was happening and they were making the ad's for it, that song was very popular. The used a popular song and a popular artist at the time to draw people's attention to their ad. It was to get more people excited and to tune in to watch the World Cup. The World Cup is a major sporting event, and a lot of people think back to those kinds of ad's. It's similar to how people always look forward to the Super Bowl commercials more than the actual football game. The part of the brain called the amygdala is responsible for emotions that deal with reward, desire, and loyalty. The hippocampus deals with deep seeded memories; memories that are burned into your brain. Similar to how this ...

Here are some consideration when performing a transfer with a patient: It is important to consider proper positioning when performing transfers with patients. You do not want the patient to have their arms around your neck when you're helping to transfer them. This is also important for the therapist so they do not get injured or they do not injure the patient. The patient should place their arms around the therapists' hips to ensure safety.  It is important that the therapist does not lift the patient when performing a transfer. It is important that the patient uses their own strength to do the transfer. The use of a gait belt would ensure the safety of the patient if the therapist needed to catch them from falling.  Understanding what devices are needed for the transfer is important to consider. That could be a sliding board, a walker, wheelchair, or gait belts. To ensure safety of the patient, make sure the brakes on wheelchairs are locked, caster wheels on the wheelchair a...

 In class this week, we were assigned to read two chapters from the book "50 Abilities, Unlimited Possibilities: Wheeling Through 50 States From Jackson to the Boston Marathon Bombing" by Paul Erway. Each chapter in the book is about a marathon in a different state that Paul Erway participated in. The two states I chose to read and reflect on were Florida and Louisiana.  Florida: Miami, Florida was the 4th race Erway competed in. When Erway and others arrived in Miami, he had arranged for a wheelchair-accessible rental van for the weekend. It turned out that the van was not wheelchair-accessible, but the company said it was accommodating, meaning that the driver was strong enough to lift them into the van. They were later able to secure a wheelchair-accessible Caravan for the weekend through the help of the National Mobility Dealers Association. Their mission is to "unify and improve mobility equipment industry and help people with disabilities lead happy; healthy and mo...

 #1 #2 #3 With their permission, I have taken 3 pictures of my friends in different positions. In the first picture, Brianna is laying in the bed watching Tik Toks. In the second picture, Emily is taking notes on her IPad. In the third picture, Aliyah is taking a break after class.  In picture #2, Emily's pelvis is in an posterior tilt. Her thoracic kyphosis is increased along with cervical flexion from looking down at her IPad. Her scapulae is protracted from rounding her back, and her femurs are parallel with the ground and help to create a 90 degree angle at the knees and at the hips.  This position would keep Emily stable since she has a bigger base of support, but her mobility might be decreased since she is sitting. I believe it would be fairly easy to change in and out of this position. Her arms are helping her support her body as she is leaning over the table. This would make the upper extremities not free. If she were to not use her arms as added support, her upp...

A few years ago, there was a huge debate on social medial about if a dress was either blue and black or white and gold. According to Bevil Conway, when looking at the picture of the dress, your eyes are trying to discount the chromatic basis of the daylight axis. As human, we are evolved to see in daylight. Daylight changes colors throughout the day. Pinkish red at dawn, blue-white at noon, and reddish at twilight. Oddly enough, this is why some people see the dress as blue and black and others see it as white and gold. Light enters the yes through the lens, where different wavelengths correspond to different colors. The visual cortex of your brain is the part that processes neural connection signals into an image.  Your brain figures out what color light is bouncing off what you're looking at and that's when the wavelengths kick in to tell you what color you see. Neuroplasticity are the things in the nervous system that mold and change during the lifespan. Seeing the dress as ...

Assuming the soldier  lost the bet, and had is little finger chopped off, a daily occupation that might be impacted for him would be working on machinery. Without his little finger, the soldier  would not be able to perform opposition  (bring the little finger and thumb together), which is an essential part of fine motor control. Without opposition it would make it difficult to work on his machinery for his job. It would also impact his ability to hold on to things. Grip strength requires the use of all your fingers, and without  the little finger, your grip strength would decrease   significantly . In the soldiers  daily occupations, decreased grip strength could negatively affect his ability  to hold his gun or other weapons. A modification that might help the soldier  participate in his occupations is getting a hand grip with a prosthetic finger. This modification would address an adaption outcome.  retrieved from: https://www.pointde...

Scapulohumeral rhythm is the ratio of movement between the scapula and humerus. For every 3 degrees of shoulder movement there is 1 degree of movement at the scapulothoracic(ST) joint and 2 degrees of movement at the glenohumeral(GH) joint. Scapulohumeral rhythm is important for healthy function of the shoulder. The GH joint is the articulation between the head of the humerus and the glenoid fossa of the scapula. The ST joint is the articulation between the anterior surface of the scapula and the posterior thoracic cage. Full range of motion for shoulder elevation between these two joints is 180 degrees. Range of motion is important in determining normal joint function. Abnormal function of these joints can affect the scapulohumeral rhythm indicating a dysfunction. The relevance of scapulohumeral rhythm is that it permits good length-tension relationships. This means the muscles won't shorten as much as they normally would. If it didn't do this you could have impingements. Scap...

When measuring range of motion (ROM), you use a goniometer. The goniometer has an axis, stationary arm, and moving arm. It is important to use bony landmarks to properly place the goniometer in the correct position for measuring ROM. Bony landmarks are also important when palpating in order to identify correct positioning or in certain cases to find possible limitations for ROM due to bone or muscle abnormalities. For example, when testing ROM of shoulder flexion, you would you the bony landmark of the acromion process to line up the axis of the goniometer, the stationary arm would need to be in line with the greater trochanter of the femur, and the moving arm would need to be in line with the lateral epicondyle of the humerus for proper testing position. It is important to be in the proper position for ROM testing to get the most accurate measurements. It can be easy to do compensatory movements when not in the proper test position. Referring to our example of testing shoulder flexion...

Everyday I sit in my car to drive to school. When I go to sit in the seat, my knees start in an extended position and move into a flexed position as I reach the seat. The motion of extension and flexion at the knee occur in the sagittal plane about a frontal axis. The osteokinematics of the knee are extension to flexion in a closed kinematic chain. In terms of arthrokinematics, the moving femur is the convex segment that rolls posteriorly and glides anteriorly on the stable tibial surface. The prime mover for knee flexion are the quadriceps muscles, which perform a eccentric contraction.  Picture retrieved from:  https://favpng.com/png_view/beautiful-car-sports-car-driving-royalty-free-clip-art-png/3SvC6Ryv

A CEO/head administrator of a larger hospital system says they have heard of OT but they aren't clear on the difference between OT and PT. Occupational therapy can be different for every person that goes through intervention. Overall, occupational therapy is the therapeutic way to learn or re-learn how to complete activities of daily living (ADL's). Some examples of ADL's are brushing your teeth, going to the bathroom, taking a shower, getting dressed, putting on shoes, or eating/feeding. Although these are just a few examples of what ADL's are, the list is endless depending on the clients personal needs. Occupational therapist like to use the term client versus patient, because we use a holistic approach and think of the whole person through mind, body, and spirit. A big difference between PT and OT is that PT often uses the word patient, whereas we typically do not. Physical therapy is treating what is wrong with the patient such as an injury or disease often through ...

  References: Aota.org. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.aota.org/about/what-is-ot Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process—Fourth edition. (2020). The American Journal of Occupational Therapy , 74 (Supplement_2). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74s2001