An Inspirational Day

On Thursday, the 26^th of September, the OT third year class fell in love with OT again. As Debbie put it, OT students become more drained by their degree as the years progress. A day, such as this, sparked a sense of motivation in each individual again, after months of exhaustion. Most students fall out of love with the degree, because of its intensity and the way it takes over ones life.

The first person to speak was a lady who is the founder of the foundation, Action in Autism. Her speech was extremely comprehensive and interesting. I enjoyed the examples she gave of her child who has Autism. She established the foundation after realizing the poor support for Autism in our province and country. The Action in Autism, (2019) website describes autism as follows: Children with autism show marked impairment in social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and limited and restricted interests and behaviour. It is a neurodevelopment disorder and occurs in the first three years of life. There is ongoing uncertainty about the cause, treatment, intervention and prognosis within the condition. International statistics indicate that 1 in 68 children have autism. The cost of caring and providing for a child with autism is huge – the child in most cases requires 24-hour care. Many parents are unable to take their children into public spaces. Since the young age of 2, I have spent a lot of time with a family friend who has autism. My family friend is 22 and I have had multiple unique experiences with autistic behaviour, as a result. Many people don’t understand this diagnosis, which is why these client’s struggle to integrate into their communities effectively.

An autistic man, age 19, came to speak to us about his experience with autism. As a young boy, his anxiety was a major problem. He explained that it was his occupational therapist that got him where he is today. What I found to be extremely interesting was his emphasis on the fact that an autistic child’s sensory problems should be the main priority and the psychological problems are secondary. The speaker continued, describing his discomfort with psychiatrists compared to his OT and this is because they did not understand this concept. He provided us with a tip wih regards to how his OT managed to use brushing and compression to remove his hand-gesturing, flapping tendencies when he was in an anxiety-provoking situation. The client struggled through schools, with some only suited to physical disabilities, others with poor teachers, trying home school and then the difficulties he faced with teachers showing him ‘special attention’, when going to a regular school from Grade 9 to 11. The speaker has since gotten a diploma in IT and is planning on moving to the UK next year to live independently and get a job there. As you can imagine, each one of our OT hearts were bursting with pride, understanding how far he has come through therapy.

We then had a discussion from a head social worker at NPC about how the centre is run, followed by a client from the rehabilitation unit. This is what this client had to say, “I started in the name of fun and it led to me killing someone. Don’t do drugs and choose friends wisely. I grew up in a good, supportive home. I ended up stealing from that home”. To hear the raw truth of how the drug completely took over his life captured all of us. He would steal, destroy, lie, abuse ad even kill someone to support this poor habit. This put the diagnosis into perspective for me. He described how his OT student, this semester, has helped him delve into the inside, as he has always focused on the outside. Through this he realized his relapses on many occasions was not only out of boredom, but to seek attention from his mother. He stated that his OT student has helped him more than his professional social worker. This had the whole class in laughter and very proud of our friend. Getting to ask these clients raw questions about their diagnoses, which we had not yet been exposed to, really helped grow my experience as a student. According to Opp, A. (2019), Occupational therapy practitioners study the habits and behaviours of clients that occur each day, throughout the week. They display to clients how their behaviours and thoughts revolve around drugs or alcohol and how they lose their identity, as they lose the roles most meaningful to them. Practitioners then construct or rebuild those occupational roles by determining what activities bring clients the most joy and sense of well-being—without drugs or alcohol. I researched this to understand our role in this sector and thought this paragraph appropriately reiterated our purpose when dealing with substance abuse.

Down Syndrome is a diagnosis I have not been exposed much to in my life time and it was therefore interesting to listen to a mom share her wisdom on this diagnosis. I have a great heart for children with this diagnosis and am excited to work with them in the future.

In conclusion, a session like today was extremely educational. To hear patients’ explain their positive experience with OT and how it helped them, definitely re-inspired our class and reminded us of the purpose and impact we can make. I believe sessions like this should take place once a term.

References:

Action in Autism. (2019). What is Autism? Retrieved from https://actioninautism.org.za/what-is-autism on the 27^th of September 2019.

Opp, A. (2019). American: Occupational Therapy Association. Recovery with Purpose: Occupational Therapy and Drug and Alcohol Abuse. Retrieved from https://www.aota.org/about-occupational-therapy/professionals/mh/articles/recoverywithpurpose.aspxn on 27th of September 2019.

MB. (2019) 21 Motivational Quotes to Motivate You to be Successful in 2019. Retrieved from https://www.mulliganbrother.com/single-post/2019/01/30/21-Motivational-Quotes-to-Motivate-You-to-Be-Successful-in-2019 on the 28^th of September 2019.