World Federation Of Occupational Therapists

As a class we were asked to read an article written by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists position on human rights. http://www.nzaot.com/downloads/contribute/HumanRightsPositionStatementFinal.pdf

The World Federation of Occupational Therapists? “The World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) is the key international representative for Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy around the world and the official international organization for the promotion of Occupational Therapy. Founded in 1952, WFOT currently has 66 member associations.” I have to mention this but it’s embarrassing to do so, and that is. I can’t believe I’ve never paid attention to WFOT. I’ve seen the acronym WFOT here and there but I’ve never paid attention to who they really are and what they stand for. They are essentially the root and core definers of the career I’m currently pursuing but I didn’t know about them. I have to admit that to be disappointing on my behalf, but like Maya Angelou says “when you know better, you do better” I hadn’t known about the federation then, but now that I do it’s important that I get to understand what they stand for and understand how I can adapt and adopt their belief system into making it beneficial for me as a student, for me as a therapist in the future and for the clients I will be working with currently and in the future.

For me to find out about  WFOT was enlightening because it helped me realize that there is a greater group of terrific minds that are centered on improving, empowering and constantly enabling individuals the same way I hope to do so. it also reminded me that this “crazy” idea that I have of wanting to change the world through OT does not lie on my shoulders and that it’s safe to want to change the world through OT because there is already of group of people on the same mind path as I am. Seeing OT”s doing their job individually (whether at the hospital or school or wherever they may be based) is inspiring, but that inspiration is to a greater extent when having to realize that there are people so passionate about inflicting change in the world they have actually formed a group that has existed just over 60 years that have been doing it.

When reading the WFOT position on human rights, what I concur with and what I liked most was the emphases on occupation as a RIGHT and a need for individuals because for me this then added a new light to what I understand about occupational therapists. And that is, occupational therapists not only help individuals engage in meaningful purposeful activity because it’s what they want to, or need or have to do. But most importantly it’s because OT’s understand that it’s their RIGHT to do so, It’s every individual’s right to participate, to be supported when doing so and in participation be given the platform to do it freely without any form of societal, religious, spiritual, cultural, or environmental barriers to that occupation.

Visit the WFOT website:
http://www.wfot.org/ 

I MISS MY "COLLEGE" TIME

 

It’s Monday the 23^rd of September just before heritage/ Braai day and here I am in my room back at res from home L . That’s sucks right? Spending the weekend at home was all the time I can spare and my little sister wasn’t impressed with me at all, neither was my gran, but hey;  it’s all the time I had to share with them  if I want to manage my hectic upcoming week. And when I say hectic, I mean I keep thinking about how am I gonna do this hectic. You know when you have so much work to do; you don’t even know where to start. Or ironically when you have so much work to do you somehow end up procrastinating by doing the last thing you’d ever do when you have all the time in the world. This is me procrastinating…mmm what will I cook for supper today??? See anyone that knows me knows I hate cooking with all of me, it’s the last thing I ever do, ever! And here I am wasting time by thinking of what to cook. Gardamit. I knew I wanted to get started with my work, but that thought of cooking was a definite green light.  So to help me out with trying to figure it out how I’m gonna do this, the 1^st suggestion my brain made was to leave home. 1^st suggestion DONE! As much as it sucks, it’s really gonna help because I’m not productive when I’m at home, at all.  And adding chores and roles to my life just makes it more difficult. The second suggestion made by my brilliant mind was to make a time table with time allocations of how much I’ll be spending on each section I’ll be working on. It looks all good and well on paper, and I hope to follow it through coz if I don’t then I’m doomed.

I got a paint brush on my hand, and I’m trying to paint this picture for you. I’m only creating this throwback moment because I want you to realize that I actually was once in “college” and I had all the college time in the world. See the thing is, I once actually loved college (I said that like an American because that’s the one place in the world that can create a false perception of what the world is really like. Have you seen how they make “college” look like? Like it’s the best place in the world to be;… please!!). Anyways; I was once in college too, and that was last year 2nd semester when I was only doing 3 clinical sciences modules, it was like the American college for real. I had so much time in my hands I had the time to think of how to waste it. I’d wake up in the morning and decide I want to see the ocean and smell the ocean breeze, so off to the beach I’d go, I would spend most Tuesdays @Musgrave watching a half price movie or just window shopping, I’d start and finish a whole season of a series in two days and go out partying with friends on Thursday nights because I didn’t have class on Fridays. It was awesome!  I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted during my college time; it was so much fun and I didn’t feel guilty at all because I knew this time of NO TIME was coming, and sure enough, the time for no time is here. Now I’m operating on varsity time and I don’t have the time for college time. I miss my college time, wouldn’t you? lol.

 I don’t like complaining about varsity time because it won’t do me any good; instead it will just waste my time. I’m thinking less talking and more action will do me good. So the fact that we’ve got 3 tests, an assignment, finals presentation and case formulation in less than two weeks matters to nobody but me and my time. Complaining about it does me no good because nobody really cares. Ok maybe care is not the word I’m looking for but you know what I mean. Did I just complain? See, I just spent seconds typing a line that I’m not even sure is supposed to be here. Now I’m wasting time thinking if the previous line I just typed is even necessary…and I’m doing all of this while the clock is ticking. Iesh!

CASUAL DAY...A BIG SPECIAL DAY

CASUAL DAY MADNESS

Friday the 6^th of September was Casual day, a day specially put on the calendar to raise awareness for people with disabilities. The “projects aim to empower communities everywhere. Casual Day seeks to be instrumental in seeing persons with disabilities being included fully in society as interdependent contributors to a better society,” says Casual Day project leader Celeste Vinassa.

Casual day has everything to do with me, it’s just sad that I don’t ever remember being  involved in it, but to make up for that I decided to go “hard” on this one.  So I bought my casual day sticker and put on my BIG CLOWN look, and off into the world I went. The theme for casual day this year was GO BIG!!! And to that I add OR GO HOME. So my theme was GO BIG OR GO HOME. After prac I had to decide if I wanted to change into normal clothes so I can go attend my afternoon lecture. But I thought why should I? If so then I’d rather just stay in my room, because what would be the point if I only dressed up for prac and not for everyone else on campus to see me. So a buddy and I decided to be dressed in our casual day outfits the whole day. We not only went to prac looking that way, we even went to campus to go attend a lecture looking like that. What I liked was that by deciding to do that it actually did raise awareness, people on campus were looking at us and thought of us crazy. Our response to that was, “Its Casual Day!” And I was glad I got the chance to explain what it’s all about to a few guys we happened to bump into on campus.

ZEE AND I EXPLAINING CASUAL DAY TO BUDDIES ON CAMPUS ;)

But just before we got to the chance to raise awareness on campus, we had crazy fun at the Lodge. My team and I had a spring day/GO BIG theme for the day. We had set up the pool area with beautiful big flowers and balloons, had a big sign reading casual day and had made and bought crops for the residents at the lodge to wear on the day, to set the mood we music playing on the background. We started off the day with a warm up session of a chocolate game. In this game each resident had the chance to roll the dice, if they lucky to hit a 6, they had the chance to eat some chocolate. A twist to this game though was that they had to wear gloves, a hat and try to eat the chocolate using a fork. They had the chance to eat the chocolate until someone else it a 6.And if no1 did, then they could carry on eating the chocolate until someone did. They enjoyed this game so much, each person was eager to try hitting a 6 on the dice just to the get the chance to eat some chocolate.

The rest of the day we had them play an obstacle course which including an egg and spoon race, score in the hoola, 3 legged race and cross-word puzzle with words which were part of the theme for the day, e.g.; casual day, fun, friends, etc. After the residents had their lunch, our supervisor suggested we set up a photo booth so that we capture memories of the day. We took so many pictures we almost got carried away. Oh before I forgetJ, we also had a branchless BIG tree printed out for them and each resident had to dip their finger on paint and create branches on the tree using their finger tips. We’ll have that organized to be put in a frame and placed on a vacant space on the wall of the lodge so that the residents have the picture as a reminder for the 2013 casual day, I liked that idea, and I thought the idea was a special thoughtJ.

I enjoyed my casual day, and I enjoyed helping put on a big smile on the people we were raising awareness towards. It was a special day for me. And I will be participating in casual day a whole lot more than I’m use to doing, even if it will be a simple tweet on my twitter handle, a change of status on my bbm or facebook or a purchase of a sticker. I will rest knowing that even though my actions may be small, I know they came from a bigger thought and a heart and one day will be proven in bigger actions.

up (center): Jadie and I rocking out at the photo booth. Up (right) :Jadie and I making big glasses for the residents at the lodge. bottom: picture of us and the residents at the lodge :)

I've Been Thinking

I've been thinking that i havent been thinking. The irony of it all is that this is actually the kind of thinking that we are being trained to do. But like the speaker states, at this stage of my life, my initial thought when someone tells or gives me notes to read on about  thinking to me I’m thinking, what makes you think I can’t think??  What makes you think I haven’t been thinking and made you want to teach me on how to think? This is almost entirely   insulting right? Because it’s literally insinuating that I have been living my life without thinking.  The rude awakening here was that YES Nthabiseng you actually haven’t been thinking at all. Yes you haven’t been thinking about how you live your life, yes you haven’t been finding meaning to the things you experience everyday and yes you have been thinking that everything that happens is about you, you, and you. Just to highlight myself centeredness, the critical thinking training that’s been taught isn’t being taught to me alone. It’s not a private tutorial teaching Nthabiseng on how to think, but here I am thinking, me, me, and me. And thinking why would my lecturer give me notes on critically thinking? When in actual fact what I should be maybe looking into is, why would she think there is a need to teach all of us on how to think? Because then, that would give me a better understanding of what kind of thinking she’s implying we haven’t been doing. And it was only after this 22 minute clip  by David Wallace _Titled This Is Water that I got my “AHA” moment. It not the thinking that we haven’t been doing, it’s the Critical thinking rather.

“Learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience…”  It’s about constantly selecting what is worth a thought and critically finding meaning and application to that thought. Do you know how draining that seems? I’m finding it hard just thinking about it, lol. It’s saying that, I have the power to select what I want to think about and the power in that selection then determines the outcome of how I see my surroundings. Thinking means actively and consciously engaging in the everyday happenings, constantly! everyday.  Wow! I think that’s a hell of a job to do. And I think it’s a skill really because it requires a lot of thought processing and rationalization. And I think it’s something you learn and eventually master and isn’t something you just waking up in the morning and magically know how to do.

But just imagine you become that person who has to think of reasons for why an idiot decided to hit the red light so you don’t get easily frustrated but rather pray that he doesn’t cause an accent because of his speeding, or how, after standing a ridiculous amount of time in the line of a grocery store.  You get to the till to face a lady who has plastered a fake smile and with a drained out voice asks you “would you like a packet for your milk and bread?” And you so consumed in your centeredness, thoughtlessly get frustrated because she is wasting your precious time by asking you stupid questions. But how much of your time did she really waist? No think about.

Imagine being so engaged with what is happening around you that you seize the opportunity to spare a though for someone else and you actually come to a realization that the universe isn’t a space created just for you. And that there are others in need of a smile, in need of hearing an uplifting song or in need  of an  outstretched helping hand.  Just think about having the humility to think not less of yourself, but to think about yourself less.

And you know what’s really funny?  “The client is conscious and aware of her surrounding” This is how I would report on assessment finding about a client and his/her level of consciousness. But is he or she really? ...Are you and I?

To check the video out got to: http://amybrownot.blogspot.com/

Midterm Case Presentation

I remember my first psychosocial case presentation, even though it was 1^st semester 2012, trust me I remember it all too well.  I hadn’t slept prepping for it; no really I literally hadn’t sleep. I remember walking in there thinking, that’s it. I’M DONE. My supervisor is going to know that I haven’t given myself enough time to prepare for my presentation and she’s going to fail me. It would be evident in my face, my speech and my presentation.  I hadn’t practiced not once, I was exhausted! And all I wanted to do was get it over and done with. And sure enough, all those doubts and fears that I had walking in to present were written all over me and my supervisor could see it. I was too nervous, not confident about my findings and was just battling to present my client to her as a whole. I was even battling to stay awake. Those 20 minutes presenting felt like an hour and I’ll admit, I wanted to cry there a little. But my supervisor couldn’t have been more positive. She greatly criticized my presentation and pointed out things that were missing, told me what I needed to work and highlighted my efforts .To someone else it would have been negative, but to me it was positive because I’ve always been the person who takes criticism positively. So even though it wasn’t my best work (and I knew it), she acknowledged my efforts and tried to find something good in it. So believe it or not I made it through and passed just by the skin of my teeth.

Yesterday was psychosocial mid-terms presentation for one of my clients at North Bay lodge. I had dedicated my whole weekend doing my case formulation and presentation simultaneously. It consumed so much of my time; I even forgot to eat on Saturday. Even though I wasn’t completely done on Monday, this time I was confident that I would finish it on time. I’d have time to practice it and have a goodnight rest. Which I did J

When comparing my 1^st psychosocial presentation to the one I was did Tuesday I would say I was much more prepared and less anxious. Even though I had a mini anxiety attack and thought I was gonna die when I found out that 3 supervisors will be sitting in on our presentation and nailing us with questions and putting us on the spot in front of the other students. I managed to find comfort from my memory of previous successful presentations and the little experienced I’ve now gained on presenting thus far. I would have been unfair to myself if I predicted this presentation to be a complete failure because I thought it would be presented by the same person who presented that never to be talked about psychosocial presentation a year ago. I’m not the same as I was then:

So here I am, blogging about it; which means I’ve survived it lol.

What I learnt I learnt on Tuesday:

1.      For some weird reason, presenting in front of everyone else actually provided a support structure for me. Just to witness everyone else going through the same emotions such as anxiety reminded me that hey, I’m actually not in this alone. And to my surprise, supervisors were for us, not against us. Thing is, they always are lol, I just tend to forget that at times. All three gave me positive feedback and I now have a better direction with my client

2.      I really liked the difference in presentation styles as it showed differences in personalities and in some presentation you could actually see the reflection of the client more than the student presenting it. E.g.; some of the presentations had pictures taken by the clients when they were doing a values clarification activity or a gardening activity. That for me showed that the student made the presentation more personal by including good and positive aspects of the client instead of what needs to be fixed about the client.

3.       I would also my the supervisors say that others may need more practice in the delivery or how they present their client’s story because it’s including myself.

4.      I would agree that even though I see growth within myself and feel a sense of pride, I have a view of who I could possibly become meaning I’m not my best yet. And what I like about that is that, even though it was a great opportunity to see how others present and how well others do it. It helped me gain confident in wanting to improve myself. And remember not to try and be like them, or try to do it like them because if I were to do that, then I’d be setting myself up for failure. But rather try and learn to bring forth my personality as well when I present.  

5.      I also learnt that it’s very important to find the history (the source) and the life events that the client has been through. It’s best to understand the context in which the client was previously in, the context the client currently finds him/herself in and how then treatment can impact on the client and help them get back the same or different environment or context in a more meaningful way. Also knowing your client very well also helps because what I noticed was that the people that were most confident to present were the ones who knew their client very well. And within knowing your client, you the presenter then have a better chance of presenting him/her to everyone else. It then helps the listeners get a picture of the client and why you’d chose to implement the treatment strategies, no questions asked.  

Midterm case presentation done and dusted! Now for the finals!!!