Ayres's First Occupational Therapy Career

I am incredibly glad that I learned about occupational therapy. While I've always had an interest in the medical field and social services, I did not know what occupational therapy was until several years ago. My first time around in college, I thought I would end up working overseas in relief and development or with marginalized populations in the U.S. When I graduated, I began to explore health care careers. As I researched physical therapy, I happened to read about occupational therapy. I was intrigued. After more research and consideration, I decided to pursue this career path. Since then I have been taking prerequisites, doing observation hours, and dedicating myself to becoming an occupational therapist.

Growing up, I have been an individual who has pushed myself beyond the minimum requirements in order to succeed. In high school I excelled in both academics and athletics. I graduated in the top 10% of my class and lettered in hockey and tennis my sophomore, junior, and senior year. I worked hard and put in extra time in order to set myself apart from others. Succeeding in both school and athletics made me a responsible, reliable, and an organized individual. These experiences made me a versatile individual and have given me a work ethic that has benefited me with my academics in college and with my work and volunteer experiences.

I am thankful for having the opportunity of applying to the Occupational Therapy program at Abilene Christian University (ACU). My decision of becoming an occupational therapist arose my sophomore year in North Lake College. Ever since, I have worked toward taking the prerequisites and then transferred to the University of Texas at Arlington, where I obtained by bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science. So later, I could pursue obtaining my master’s in Occupational Therapy. I am applying to the occupational program at ACU because, it is a Christian school, its excellent degree plan, along with experienced faculty, and my eagerness about of becoming an occupational therapist would equip me with the tools I need to perform the occupation with quality and humanity. I am ready to commit and serve others by putting to use what I have learned from occupational therapy experiences and to take advantage of all the resources the program has to offer.

social awareness and social skills (See appendix A). The OTS scored 31 on self-awareness. The

Occupational Therapist enables people to engage and participate in everyday activities trough occupation. The latter role is not only applicable for individuals but also groups or populations. Eventually, with the increase of the aging population, expensive health care services, occupational therapists will have to incorporate health promotion practices into their actual roles.To cope with this phenomenon and to better meet older adult’s needs, the occupational therapist 's role would benefit from being enlarged.Expanding their knowledge and their practices in promoting health will facilitate their work in other domains.This will help them to shift from an individual to a population approach. To achieve that transition, therapists should be more involved in decisions taken by politicians regarding health and to develop services and programs that promote well-being, health, and quality of life. Also, collaboration with other fields such as schools, workplaces, industries, deputies and organizations will help them spread strategies that promote awareness and enable the population to control and maintain an independent healthy lifestyle. Also, therapists understand that the environment can be a crucial factor on health population. Therefore ,they can put pressure on the government to make public places more accessible to disabled people such as providing the subway of a wheelchair ramp and adapt crosswalks to the blind by adding pedestrian signals that include speakers at

The concepts and principles in the Founding Vision of 1917 and the Centennial Vision of 2007 establish a connection between our past and present. Comparing the two Visions shows that many of our modern day values were first outlined by occupational therapy’s founders a century ago. The Founding Vision reads, “The particular objects for which the corporation is formed are as follows: The advancement of occupation as a therapeutic measure; for the study of the effect of occupation upon the human being; and for the scientific dispensation of this knowledge” (National Society for the Promotion of Occupational Therapy [NSPOT], 1917). Where the Centennial Vision reads, “We envision that occupational therapy is a powerful, widely recognized, science-driven,

Unit one has been a lot of history for the starting occupational therapy to some reasons why occupation therapy is around. It also hit on some basic terms to know that occupational therapist use. I have learned a lot as far as the history behind occupational therapy and the founders of this therapy service. One thing I found very interesting was that the actual process it took for occupational therapy to become a actual thing. Such as what occupational therapy is actually based upon: a holistic base. Being that occupational therapy helps with mental illness' makes the whole career a lot more interesting to me. Before taking this class I had no clue that occupational therapy was based on such high morals or standards.

Sensory integration is a condition that can be found in young children. This condition is defined as the difficulty of developing motor and cognitive skills at a typical rate(book). If the parent of a child with this condition is fully aware, most likely they will take the steps they need to better their child’s life. With that being said, the child will need an occupational therapist. The researcher has gathered information on the steps and guidelines of what an occupational therapist needs to follow for early intervention, the benefits it has for the child in need, and also the roles of an occupational therapist that will be further discussed. One of the most important role that an occupational therapist can do for a child with sensory integration is early intervention. The earlier you acknowledge the condition, the better outcome the child has at improving his/her physical and mental capabilities. Early intervention helps these children strive towards a path that improves their abilities and skills that are developed during these crucial years.

The name of the society changed in 1923, due to hospitals wanting a national directory of qualified occupational therapists. There now was a minimal standard of training that had to be met before an individual was put in the directory (AOTA, 2009). The name was changed to the American Occupational Therapy Association. The American Medical Association worked with the American Occupational Therapy Association starting in 1933 on getting improved education programs for occupational therapists (AOTA, 2009).

This scholarship is very important to me in many ways.This scholarship will help me physically and emotionally if I receive money. For instance, it will make me stress less about how I am going to be able to pay for my tuition and fees and not have debt. Also, it will give me a way to purchase my books for the classes I will take.Since I will not receive financial aid I will have to apply for more scholarships. I plan to go to Northwest Shoals to be able to get my basics done and further my education and transfer to Wallace State to be able to become an Occupational Therapist it has always been a desire to work with many people and help someone out if they needed it. Some of my college goals is to be able to maintain a high GPA and do the

Through the almost 100 years of occupational therapy as a profession, occupational therapy have gone from a profession focused only on the mentally ill patient to a profession that is targeting a broad range of population ranging from the special needs population, to veterans, and people with different diseases and physical disabilities or injuries. It is inspirational to know that this profession started based on the ideology that “even the most challenged are entitled to consideration and human compassion” (O'Brien, 2012). Likewise, it is fascinating that occupational therapy played such an important role in both of the world war as reconstruction aides focusing on rehabbing the soldiers and helping veterans recover during post-war period

As a recent graduate of the Family and Child Sciences program at Florida State University, I am committed to advancing my career opportunities on a graduate level of study in occupational therapy. I accomplished my initial goal of becoming a certified preschooler teacher and acquired a further understanding of the pediatric realm of occupational therapy based on my educational experiences. At this point in my life I have realized that the graduate program of occupational therapy is my path forward to becoming a professional pediatric occupational therapist. I believe occupational therapy is one of the most innovative and effective approaches in health care delivery in the medical field. I am fascinated by the thought of helping future patients deal with ailments and diseases with a primary care level. Occupational therapy, as a discipline is

Occupational therapists help children make of sensory experiences involving sights, smells, touch, sounds, tastes and movement. Children with learning disabilities or autism may experience serious difficulties processing, understanding and reacting to sensory stimulation. The ability of these children to process sensory information may impacted by either hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity to stimulation. Many children who engage in problematic behaviors or anti-social tendencies may actually be experiencing difficulties processing and understanding sensory information and their environment. Occupational therapists use observation and data collection to create a plan that addresses and rectify specific behaviors.

A Chinese teacher named Confucius once said, "Choose a job you love and you will never have to work again." I strongly believe that by becoming a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, I will realize the truth of that statement.

Therapy can help many aspects of a persons life. There are different injuries or birth defects that need to be treated to perform everyday activities. A variety of different therapy methods and treatments, depending on the personal weakness, can help improve someone’s everyday life.