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PEDIATRIC OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

The Care Center

Goals & Objectives: 

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1) Health Assessment (Cognitive Goal):

By the end of my fieldwork experience I will be able to describedescribe elements of the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales assessment and evaluation model.

  • I achieved this goal by observing many evaluations and reading over the Peabody manual. The Peabody evaluates reflexes, stationary locomotion, object manipulation, grasping, and visual-motor integration for kids 1- 71 months. OTs primarily focus on grasping and visual motor integration, but it also depends on the child’s condition and stage of development. For example, reflexes will be measured for babies and kids with CP.  

  • I also researched 6 other assessment for older patients that focus more on conceptual, social, and practical domains. A link to this document is below.

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 2) Health Planning Goal (Cognitive & Skill Goal):

By the end of my fieldwork experience I will be able to review a child’s goals and identify several simple activities that meet those goals.

  • After observing Ellen multiple sessions, she challenged me to review patient goals before seeing a patient. I tried to come up with different activities that met these goals, which she would check to make sure they were appropriate for the patient's skills and age level. I liked the challenge of having to make an activity that fulfills the goals fun and playful.

  • I also kept a running list of new therapy activities and which goals they accomplished.

 3) Intervention Development or Implementation Goal (Skills Goal):

By the end of my fieldwork experience, I should be able to create several therapy activities.

  • I developed these activities for a patient with Williams syndrome, a mild to moderate intellectual disability or learning problems, with unique personality characteristics, distinctive facial features, and heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) problems. But they can also be graded up or down

  • I made a obstacle course that had the kids pretend like they were in Finding Nemo. They had to ride on a scooter that looked like a turtle, jump on “jelly fish circles”, travel through a tunnel to escape sharks, and crab walk to land.

  • I also made blue slime for sensory processing and a jellyfish and watermelon paper plate craft. 

  • Described more fully below is a bird scavenger hunt with tasks that had to be completed before moving onto the next clue. 

Projects-

Reflection on Egg Scavenger Hunt

  • How well do you think you accomplished the project or dealt with the experience(s)?

    • Planning these activities came quite natural to me. After observing many therapy sessions, I understood how each activity met the child's goals. I was able to integrate my experiences preparing crafts and games for past babysitting jobs with a knowledge of theory-based interventions.

  • ​What skills did you use? (e.g. writing, speaking, organizing, interpersonal, counseling, management, research, etc.)

    • ​This project involved researching OT activities that targeted skills I hoped to develop in patients, creativity in how to accomplish these goals in a fun, interactive way, and interpersonal skills when introducing and explaining the scavenger hunt to kids

  • Point out your strengths and weaknesses. What would you do differently?

    • I think the kids really enjoyed the activity, but I wish I found more ways to grade it where a wider range of ages and diagnoses could have participated. Sometimes transitions form one egg to the next were also tricky.​

 4) Affect Goal:

By the end of my fieldwork experience, I will be able to articulate how I feel about pursuing a career or further graduate studies in pediatric occupational therapy.

  • I love that OT is such a relational profession and am postitive I want to pursue occupational therapy as a career, but am still open to various settings. I had the chance to intern in two different locations and enjoyed both for different reasons. Treatment at the Care Center was very high energy and fast paced. I liked this because you never got and had to continually come up with new and creative ways to keep the kids engaged. I also like that you get to know the families so well and watch the kids grow. Many of the therapists at the Care Center are the families life line and support when things get tough. 

 5) Assess your contribution to the internship site.

  • I think I did a good job seeing how I could not only support Ellen, but also the other therapists. If Ellen had a little time in between sessions, I often hopped in on another therapist's session. I loved interacting with he kids and think I brought an overall fun and positive attitude to treatments. I hope my therapy activities can be used in the future and that Ellen enjoyed having me as an intern as much as I appreciated her as a supervisor.

 6) Relate your internship experience to your academic work on campus. List at least 5 specific courses (by title, not number) in your major that were useful at this site. 

  • Development Psychology: Its important to know what typical development is so you have a better idea where kids are on cognitive and motor development​

  • Abnormal Psychology: Ellen treated many children with diagnosis I learned about in this class

  • Introduction to Public Health: It’s important to see the patient through a holistic lens.

  • Determinants of Health: There are many factors that could impact a patient’s ability access and accessibility to treatment

  • Community Health Promotion: How to advocate for patients that may not qualify for insurance coverage and need certain treatments

 7) Were there instances at your site where the health literacy training were utilized?        Explain.

  • Yes, many patients' parents would come to watch therapy sessions and Ellen had to be able to explain why she was doing certain therapies in layman's terms. I also used this training when I was researching different evaluation assessments and compiling summary comparison charts for each. I had to be abel to explain detailed documents in short, succinct bullets.

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