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The At The Wyoming Valley West Middle School

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The engagement in activities is a very special part of being human. According to (framework), activities are defined as “Actions designed and selected to support the development of performance skills and performance patterns to enhance occupational engagement” (AOTA, 2014, pg. S30). My group and I recently had the honor of completing two different activities with the life skills students, at the Wyoming Valley West Middle School in Kingston, Pennsylvania. The activities that we completed with the children were pumpkin painting, and completing a Halloween mask. The purpose of these activities were to show how an Occupation Therapy practitioner can work with children who have intellectual and physical disabilities, and understand their emotional and social needs, in a classroom setting. The environment played a key role in the completion of both activities. According to the OTPH-3 an environment is defined as “External physical and social conditions that surround the client and in which the client’s daily life occupations occur” (AOTA. 2014, pg. S12). The first major inhibitor regarding the physical environment was that fact that the children were not placed in their normal classroom. Due to a recent mold issue, the students of the Wyoming Valley West Middle School were unexpectedly asked to move to the Wyoming Valley West High School. Since neither the students, nor the teachers were familiar with the classroom, they had a difficult time finding items such as paper towels.

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