Tag: PTA

Today was my last day here at PTA, but my first full day working with speech therapist Anna Carrick. In terms of scheduling, today was the first day I had 30-minute sessions because she had what is referred to as a “rapid-fire” day.

Speech was definitely a very different experience from OT and PT since a majority of it is done sitting at a table with flashcards or iPad games as opposed to using the gym or even just moving around the room.

I was also surprised by the sheer variety of complications the patients had – ranging from working on sounds such as SHH and ZZZ to non-verbal children who are working on learning non-verbal motions.

Another common goal is working on working on associating words with images. To do this, Mrs.Carrick has many different sets of cards with images on them, in this case, we used animals.

One major similarity I saw between all three types of therapy was the use of different types of games in between activities so that the kids get a break and it also pushes them to work harder during their session.

 

Today picked up where yesterday left off, PT. All of the patients we saw were under three years old which really surprised me since I didn’t even know that you could really do PT that young. Lots of today was spent building different obstacle courses based on what each child needed to work on (balance, running, skipping, ect,).

*example of an obstacle course we set up*

Every kid also got to pick a puzzle or game that they could complete a part of each time they made a lap through the course. Some of my favorites included Mr.Potato Head, a Cars puzzle and a “make your own pizza”.

Another popular motivation is bubbles. This sounded odd to me at first but Mrs.Nixon explained and demonstrated how kids could lift their legs or knees or arms (through exercises) and aim to pop the bubble. This was a technique I would have never thought of so it was cool to see it in action.

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.

Today was my first day at Pediatric Therapy Associates in Raleigh. I spent my day shadowing Ashley Houser who is an occupational therapist. We started off first thing with a breakdown explanation of her job, an overview of the day ahead, and signing HIPPA forms (for that reason there will be no names or pictures of children in these posts).

Mrs.Houser has an office perfect for fostering fun and feelings of safety.  The room has bean bags, a comfortable mat, a sensory wall, and two closets full of toys.

* A few quick pictures of the room! Note the sensory wall in the third picture. *

Another area of the office is the “gym”. Movement is an aspect of OT but a majority of PT which also happens in this space. The area features an elliptical, stationary bike, treadmill and different parts of a flexible obstacle course that therapists can design on a case by case basis.

Today was a very busy day with back to back appointments from 8 am to 7 pm. The appointments are 45 minutes long and are referred to as sessions. The age range was very large from 3 to 20.  Conditions were all very different as well but I was amazed at how Mrs.Houser knew so much about every kid and was able to make a plan that worked to their strengths and needs.

One of the most commonly used techniques that I learned today was looking at your “energy” level and working on techniques to calm down when your level gets too high. A very common trend in many of the patients was an overreaction to small issues and it’s amazing how some techniques work so well for some kids while they only make the issues worse for others.

*This is a chart that shows energy levels as well as techniques to help calm yourself down*