Today was certainly a roller coaster with internet shutdowns, cancelations, and miscommunication, but I loved every second of it.
I arrived at 8 AM and went straight to Mrs.Houser’s office. We saw four patients this morning back to back. The kids today were mostly in the 3 – 4 range with the exception on one 12-year-old girl. Throughout the sessions, we covered a wide range of activities, some I had seen the day before and some new ones. Three of the new activities included trying new foods, learning to brush teeth and playing with shaving cream (one of my favorites) to practice adapting to new sensory experiences.
I also got some exposure to other aspects of the “gym” including the ball pit and swing that can be hung from the ceiling! It was a nice preview into what I would experience more of when I started my work with PT.
At noon, it was time to say goodbye to Mrs.Houser which was harder then I expected. In a day and a half, I learned so much from her and I could definitely see myself pursuing an OT path in the future.
I headed out for lunch where I met my fellow intern Dorrit Eisenbeis at a nearby Panera. I really enjoyed talking about my own experiences so far and hearing about the work she has done. With some overlap between our two experiences, I left lunch eager to learn more about PT, a discipline she had been working in.
Having returned to the office, I was faced with the journey two doors down from the room I had begun to call “home base”. With this new room came a new discipline, PT (Physical Therapy) and a new “mentor” Rachel Nixon.
* Rachel Nixons room, AKA my new workspace!*
After rapid-fire introductions, our first patient walked in. She is what is referred to as a “toe-walker” so we did a series of exercises including wall sits, planks and jumps in order to strengthen her leg muscles. Because the exercises get tiresome, Mrs.Nixon keeps a closet of games that the patients can play in between exercises. Today we played Animal Rummy and Jenga.