The Occupational Therapy Program At Abilene Christian University ( Acu ) Essay

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.

Without occupational therapists, millions of people would struggle to live their everyday lives. Occupational therapists give specialized assistance to people with physical, developmental, social or emotional problems. This assistance is used to live productive and independent or semi independent lives. Occupational therapists can be used, and is effective for people of all ages. Many people have not heard of occupational therapy and are not aware of the positive impact it has on members of our society. With this paper I want to spread the knowledge that I have on occupational therapy. Many people that could benefit from occupational therapy do not even know that it exists. This career is difficult for everyone involved, but the impact it has

Throughout this course, my mind was opened to several healthcare careers which I was unaware of before. For the careers that I did know about, this course still did a great job at informing me of the professions on a deeper level. After reviewing the lectures and careers, I feel strongly about pursuing a career in Occupational Therapy. More specifically, I want to become an Occupational Therapy Assistant. This was a career that I had in mind when I began the course and I have been interested in it for about two years now. Occupational Therapy Assistants need to be sociable, compassionate, flexible, and enjoy problem solving. I believe I will enjoy this profession because my personality matches with all of these things.

Participation is an important piece in the field of occupational therapy. Given that different factors influence participation and when people have a choice in the activity, it increases participation, then the more someone actively participates in occupational therapy, the better their outcome of therapy will be. In her piece, Participation in the Occupations of Everyday Life, Mary Law focuses on this idea that participation in meaningful activity is key to effective occupational therapy. I may not be old and experienced but, I am old enough to be able to relate the information in this article to my life.

As a member of Phi Theta Epsilon, I will continue to pursue my occupational therapy degree in the presence of other highly motivated students that share the same values and the same desire to contribute to the continued growth and promotion of our profession. I will continue to seek the knowledge and experience necessary for me to become the best occupational therapist that I can be for my future clients with the support of Phi Theta Epsilon. I will demonstrate continued academic excellence and professionalism through my role in positively representing occupational therapy at Alvernia. I am excited for the opportunity to represent occupational therapy not only here at Alvernia, but also within the larger community as well.

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

Lives are changed everyday by occupational therapy assistants. I have the dedication, compassion, and ability to celebrate every miniscule improvement needed to become a successful OTA. This a quickly growing field where I can use the talents I already possess to excel. I can easily recall the differences made in my papaw’s life through occupational therapy and the way every advancement in mobility or independence was as exciting as it would be with a new

Way back when I first started college, my priorities were not clear. I knew I wanted to do something that I can be proud of, it was only a matter of what do I really want that will fill my life and complete me as a person. I was in the manufacturing field since I was 19 years old and yet, I felt a hole in my heart. I got to a point where I stop growing as an individual and it became apparent that I wanted to do something more significant. That void became the fuel to pursue something bigger and life changing. I tried to dig deep and really tried to figure out what I want in life and at the same time I started taking classes that can go towards any degree in the medical field. Taking care of people has always been a part of me. I took care of

The Occupational Therapy Assistant lab at University of Charleston is unavailable after normal business hours to complete tasks hands on and to work on homework effectively; with no computer lab available for additional knowledge on the subjects, OTA students of University of Charleston is at a hindrance, resulting in tasks being completed off campus. The OTA program is at an educational disadvantage because the main resources are limited to a Monday through Friday schedule, which entitles students to rely on unscholarly articles and websites for information.

An Occupational Therapist is a individual that can evaluate, develop, and help people regain and maintain daily living skills. Occupational Therapist work with people that have physical, mental and developmental conditions. The goal of the Therapist is to offer intervention that focus on teaching skills and helping the patient as well as the family on how to adapt and strengthen themselves so that they might be able to overcome physical obstacles. Occupational Therapist work with other health professionals in speech therapy, nursing, physical therapy and social work to ensure that the patients course of treatment aligns with the other areas.

What is occupational therapy? How does one define the profession and validate its worth in the medical field? Since its conception as an established health care profession, occupational therapy’s philosophy has been defined, redefined, and refined. In their writings esteemed Occupational Therapists Mary Reilly and Susan Peloquin offer their own critical and revisionary ideas of occupational therapy’s worth, the basic need it fulfills, and its service to the healthcare profession. Both women ask their peers to refine what is

For my career exploration assignment I have chosen the field of occupational therapy. Not only am I a certified occupational therapists assistant, but I also have a passion for this field. Occupational therapy wasn’t something that I have always wanted to pursue, but once I got into college and observed an occupational therapist I fell in love with the occupation. Occupational therapy is the unique focus on occupation and daily life activities and the application of an intervention process that facilitates engagement in occupation to support participation in everyday life (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 1994). As therapists we are here to help our patients return to the highest level of independent physical function. Patients come to us in their lowest time, and it is our job to help build them up, and teach them how to be more independent, and to live their life to the fullest. Occupational therapists assistants do everything from increasing a patient’s standing/sitting tolerance and balance, safety with transfer training, dressing, bathing, grooming, and bed mobility. A lot of people always ask, “Physical therapy and occupational therapy are the same thing right?” That is not true. Physical therapy helps with the bigger movements, such as walking and lower extremity muscles, where as occupational therapy focuses on smaller, more fine motor movements, such as clothing manipulation, and grooming tasks. Occupational therapy helps to regain independence

Occupational therapy is focused on developing creative ways to resolve problems in order to maximize independence, making these skills essential for the job. I am also goal oriented, self-motivated, and have a strong drive for academic excellence. Through volunteering in a variety of health settings, I have developed a great level of patience, as well as strong communication skills. I have experience in designing adaptive equipment through computer aided drafting and engineering courses. Through focusing my projects for these classes on adaptive equipment, I have gained spatial and visual skills, as well as an understanding of the importance of technology in occupational therapy. In addition, I have a very compassionate attitude and desire to help others. I believe that these traits, skills, and experiences, will contribute to my success as an occupational

An occupational therapist is a trained and licensed health care professional who can make a complete evaluation of the impact of disease on the activities of the patient at home and in work situations. Hobbies and recreational activities are considered when an assessment is made. The most generally accepted definition of occupational therapy is that it is an activity, physical or mental, that aids in a patient’s recovery from disease or injury.