Last week we did an activity analysis lab, and each member in a group of five planned an activity and taught it to the rest of the group. The purpose of the project was for us to gain an understanding of the purpose and process of activity analysis, particularly for occupation-based activity in occupational therapy interventions. I found this assignment to be very informative and challenging! What seems like a simple task can be broken down into numerous steps with multiple client factors and performance skills all playing a role. Being able to analyze an activity and provide each client with a "just right challenge" is crucial in being a skillful OT. It is important to not ask too much from a client, but also just as important to avoid asking too little. We learned how to grade each activity up or down in order to provide an appropriate challenge for clients with different physical, mental, social, and sensory challenges. It is important to always keep in mind that EVERY client is a unique individual, and every intervention plan should fit to his or her goals. Occupational therapy is not about "cookie cutter," repetitive exercises and tasks; it is about helping clients return to their former functioning level, allowing them to do occupations that are important to them.
For this assignment, I decided to watch a movie called The Fundamentals of Caring. The title of this movie had caught my eye while scrolling through Netflix a few times before, but I had never taken the time to watch it. This movie is about a retired author named Ben who decides to enroll in a class and become a caregiver. He takes on a full time job caring for a boy named Trevor who has muscular dystrophy. Although Ben has no previous experience as a caregiver, it does not take long for him to gain the respect of Trevor. He decides to get Trevor out of the house and away from his dull daily routine to embark on a road trip together. Trevor saw and experienced things that he would never have had the chance to do before Ben came into his life. Ben made sure that Trevor could check things off of his bucket list without solely focusing on the worry of medicines and treatments for a week. My main takeaway from this movie was how Ben did not treat Trevor differently...
YES! Excellent take-away!
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