The Student’s Point Of View – AOTA National Student Conclave, Part 3
Sorry it has taken so long for me to come back and tell you all about the student conclave. My semester is just wrapping up so it’s been
busy, busy. Anyways, the conclave was
great! It was educational and definitely a good networking opportunity.
The morning
consisted of visiting a few of the companies’ booths that were represented, and
then attending the children and youth session.
This session was very informative and reviewed occupational therapy
services in an early intervention setting, school based setting, and the
sensory integration approach. I am
presently taking an early intervention elective and this part of the lecture
coincided nicely with what I have learned throughout my semester. IDEA was briefly reviewed and how it impacts
EI services, as well as the IFSP (individualized family service plan). In addition, how to create appropriate measurable outcomes
for the children who receive this service was also discussed. The information presented about occupational
therapists in schools was mainly aimed at school mental health issues which was
not something I have learned a lot about through my schoolwork. The most interesting thing that I learned
during this part of the lecture was about the three-tier model of school
supports and how the academic system and behavioral system are more similar
than I expected. Both systems have the
same 3 tiers (core instructional interventions, targeted group interventions,
and intensive individual interventions) with the only difference being that the
academic system is a more intense tier 3/intensive individual intervention and
of a longer duration than the behavioral system. I found the sensory integration part to be
less informative because of the background I already have in it from my school
curriculum. It was a nice overview of
the SI approach for those who were not familiar with the basics.
After the
first session, I was able to visit a few more booths and then I attended the
returning soldier's lecture session. This
was my favorite session. The
presenters were very passionate about what they did at their facilities,
and presented fascinating statistics and pictures that kept my attention
throughout the session. It was also
interesting that during this session one of the speakers reinforced two of the
messages my professors have been trying to get across this semester which were
that the most powerful thing an occupational therapist does is interview their
client and find out their individualized goals.
The second message is in the occupational therapy procedure and when
working with ortho patients to always first stabilize the limb. I think that being an occupational therapist
in this field would be emotional but very rewarding. I was correct when foreshadowing that this
session would be inspiring…it really was!
I was able
to finish visiting all of the companies present and obtain a lot of information
and business cards before heading to my last lecture session. The session was about health and wellness and
covered universal design, virtual gaming in therapy, and fall prevention for
older adults. I have been learning about
universal design and think it is very interesting, so when the speaker spoke
about their involvement with a grant funded program to redesign children’s
museums I was again inspired. The
museums had to be universally designed for not only wheelchairs and those with
physical disabilities, but also for those with visual, auditory, sensory, etc.
deficits. The next speakers were from RehabCare. They reviewed the
use of the Wii as a therapy tool which relates to my ongoing research project
of using a virtual game to increase trunk control in those who sustained low
spinal cord injuries. It was good to
note that when using virtual games in therapy, that the documentation must
relate to functional outcomes and not to mention the Wii or other gaming
systems. This will be beneficial during
my research collection as well as when I am a practicing therapist and have the
ability to use such virtual games in therapy.
Lastly, the speaker on fall prevention for community-based older adults
gave a great overview of fall prevention, assessments, and overall prevalence
of falls. This was eye-opening.
I know I’ve
gone over a lot so far but I’m not done yet!
I followed the last lecture sessions with the information session on the
realities and myths of the OTR examination.
I had not known anything about the OTR exam before this session and so
learning the format of the test and general information contained within the
test were the two most beneficial aspects of this session for me. To end the day, I attended a personal resume
critique which was also beneficial. My
resume has been critiqued many times by family members and writing
professionals at the school but it was nice to have a working therapist’s
opinions. They also gave a list of
commonly used interview questions which I will definitely keep as a resource
for when I start applying and interviewing for jobs in the next year.
Overall
this conclave was very valuable and I recommend it to all OT students and
professors. And thank you to RehabCare
for providing me the opportunity to attend this year's AOTA/NBCOT National
Student Conclave!
