Tutorial seven: Linking to blogs of interest and exchanging comments

I have chosen to link to different blogs that relate to Occupational Therapy practise and intellectual and mental disabilities. I have set up links on the side of my blog which are easy to locate and click into. Within this list of links there are blogs from other class mates of mine.

Below i have put a communication i have had with another blogger.

Ruby17 May 2012 18:56Hi Lily
I have always been interested in Autism however i still do not know what the difference is between autism and Asperger's? would you mind giving me a brief explination of the difference? thank you

lilycrombie-PO117 May 2012 19:16

hi ruby!

Aspergers and Autism come under the umbrella of Pervasive Developmental Disorders, and have features that are very similar to each other, which is why you are probably confused. the main difference is in language development.
Children with Aspergers Syndrome have no trouble with language development, unlike children with Autism.

here is a video clip which helps to explain the differences a bit more! enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCuk_NQMwOM

Ruby17 May 2012 19:20

Thank you Very much :)

Tutorial Eight: Assistive technology

Assistive Technology is "any product especially produced or generally available for preventing, compensating for, monitoring, relieving, or neutralizing impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions" (Bernd, 2009, p. 147).


Assistive technology is used for people with disabilities that normally to perform a certain function that normally it would be very difficult or even impossible.


The assistive technology that i am focusing on is iPad.The Apple iPad is 20 x 24.5 x 2.5 cm in dimension, it is very light and a good product. IPads are the latest obsession at the moment and have very good recommendations. The ipad has become very popular in schools over time. They make reading, writing and communicating easier, all you have to do is download specific applications for the students needs.

A mother of a child with Down syndrome talks about a communication application she found rewarding, she says “Dragon Dictate, a voice-recognition program. For those who have trouble speaking, Proloquo2 has text-to-speech capabilities, communications symbols, and a vocabulary of more than 7,000 words. It’s been hailed by the autism community as a great piece of assistive technology.”(Jen 2012) It is more of an attraction to children to want to touch it rather than them touching a computers keyboard or a book. If you learn how to use the iPad at an early stage it can be a piece of equipment that will stay with you for years to come so they could use one when they get older and want to be more independent.

Bernd, T., D, & De Witte, L. (2009). Existing models and instruments for the selection of assistive technology in rehabilitation practice. Scandinavian Journal Of Occupational Therapy, 16(3), 146-158.

youtube. (2011, March). youtube. Retrieved 2012, from Autism/ Occupational therapy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDnTgJJxVjQ

Tutorial six: The Internet and online community

In my first and second placement I was working with children and adults who had intellectual disabilities, this is why i felt it would be appropriate to show some online communities for families of the intellectually disabled.


Auckland Disability Providers network


New Zealand Down Syndrom Association


IHC


The Auckland Disability Providers Network Inc. (ADPN) aims to collectively work on initiatives and issues around providing services for disabled people. Through this community they let you know all about the happening and upcoming events that are to do with the disabled. it is ver interactive as all of the options are on the side so its easy to get around the website.


The NZ Down syndrome association is a family/whanau driven organisation for peoples whose lives have been changed due to Down syndrome. this is a site were people can get together and complete challenges people wouldn't think they would be completing.


IHC works for all people with an intellectual disability. We provide services, advocacy, support and information. IHC will advocate for the rights, inclusion and welfare of all people with an intellectual disability and support them to live satisfying lives in the community.


People choose to contribute to all of these communities for the same reason, they want to meet other families who are going through the same thing as them. if they know other people and ask how they are bringing their children up who have intellectual disabilities then they may feel better about what they are doing.
Occupational deprivation is a relatively new term which describes a state in which people are precluded from opportunities to engage in occupations of meaning due to factors outside their control.


Occupational Justice refers to the idea that any human being is able to partake in occupational performance as much as any other human being. the setting i have chosen comes under this as they are people that may get looked down upon and not wanted in a certain area or setting. a lot of families may have had this issue of their child not being good enough as they are intellectually disabled so will want to talk to each other about how they went about it.


The ethical issues that face them will be making sure they get consent for everything and not just go putting up photos of everyone with out them knowing or giving permission. as they want to be showing how good their sites are they will want to share all the fun activities but will have to be careful about getting consent.




there are many benefits and limitations of having an online community such as they can provide connections instantly over a large geographical distance. people dont have to meet up face to face they can just talk online. Limitations can include delusional reliance on virtual communities, and a digital divide regarding who has access to what sites.

Tutorial two: Occupational Engagement, Doing, Being, Becoming and Belonging.

Play is my chosen occupational engagement as you can play in so many different ways. Play is such a small word for how big it really is, play is defined as "To occupy oneself in amusement, sport, or other recreation" (Collins, 2012) everyone has participated in play at some point of their lives. I personally have grown up playing from playing with toys, playing in sport and playing set games such as a computer game or scrabble. During my fieldwork I was with children, every thing we did had some form of playing in it, the assessments were watching how the children played with others or just how they played by themselves.

The concepts of doing, being, becoming and belonging are all integral to the philosophy of occupational therapy, because “together, they epitomise occupation” (Wilcock, 1998b).

Rowles (1991) states that by 'doing', a person can learn and achieve a sense of accomplishment through occupational performance. The term 'doing' refers to the aspect of occupation that is goal orientated (Wilcock, 1998a).

 Wilcock states, Being, is being true and honest to yourself. It requires that people have time to truly get to know themselves "to discover and reflect" (Wilcock, 1998). most of my images are being as they are being true to themselves by being free and playing. the one with the lady in the sand is especially doing.

Becoming is the idea of being able to imagine a future self and who or what they wish to become later in their lives (Hammel, 2004). Becoming also incorporates ideas of self-perception and the ability of an individual to control their environment.

Belonging is shown through having relationships, friendships and mutual support (Hammel, 2004). It entails the relationships and meanings given to places and activities, as well as between people Rowles, (1991). the images of people dressing up with friends is to me what belonging is.  

Playing

View more presentations from rubydowd.

Hammell, K.W. (2004). Dimensions of meaning in the occupations of daily life.Canadian Journal of
Occupational Therapy, 71 (5).

Rowels, G.D. (1991). Beyond performance: Being in place as a component of occupational therapy.
American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 45, 265-271.

Wilcock, A.A. (1998a).Occupation for health.British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61, 340-345

Collins, H. (2012). Play . Retrieved May 2012, from The free dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/play

Tutorial Five: Video Production Sessions

Cornelia de lange syndrome is a developmental disorder that affects many parts of the body. The features of this disorder vary widely among affected individuals and range from relatively mild to severe.
Cornelia de Lange syndrome is characterised by slow growth before and after birth, intellectual disability that is usually severe to profound, skeletal abnormalities involving the arms and hands, and distinctive facial features. The facial differences include arched eyebrows that often grow together in the middle, long eyelashes; low-set ears; small, widely spaced teeth; and a small, upturned nose. Many affected individuals also have behaviour problems similar to autism, a developmental condition that affects communication and social interaction. (Cornelia De Lange, 2012)

During my first placement I had a young girl with this syndrome and as it wasn't very common i became very interested in it, so here are some videos to give you a better understanding on what it is.

Cornelia de Lange. (2012, May). Retrieved May 2012, from Genetics home reference: http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/cornelia-de-lange-syndrome

This video is a brief look into what Cornelia de Lange is and how it affects a person. As Cornelia de Lange syndrome is not very common, i thought this would be helpful in allowing people to get a better understanding into what it is 

 

This clip is about a young girl who is talking on behalf of his brother who has Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, they are trying to do what they can to give him the best life they can. Many children with CDLS experience the same things.

"If your happy and you know it touch your head" this is a clip trying to get the young boy to communicate through song and sign language. As most people with CDLS are non verbal, finding other ways to communicate is very important.

This clip is a mother speaking about her son, what he can acomplish and what problems he will have throughout life. She explains what life is like with a child with Cornelia de Lange.

This clip is making people aware of what Cornelia de Lange Syndrome is through a range of pictures and subtitles to give us a greater understanding.

Youtube.com(2011). Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Foundation. Retrived 3rd May 2012 from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqNwwm7uVAA

Youtube.com(2009). Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, Retrived 3rd May 2012 from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eveml6tWv_0&feature=related

Youtube.com(2009). If You're Happy and You Know It. Retrived 1st May 2012 from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBQjTvKjQ30 

Youtube.com(2011). Meet Dominic- "You Can Help Change a Life". Retrived 1st May 2012 from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5kj4kZZalk

Youtube.com(2008). Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Awarness. Retrived 12th May 2012 from:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGfdT8Z7YPE

Tutorial four: Video production sessions

The task we were set for tutorial four was to make a one minute film about either occupational justice, occupational distribution, occupational transition or occupational deprivation. we chose to do our on occupational transition as we all have moved from different areas of New Zealand to Dunedin. each person held up a sign of what they interpreted their home to be like or what it reminded them of to what they have or feel now that they are in dunedin studying at the Polytech.
 This idea came through seeing other short films like this and we knew it would be able to get the message across without any sound or dialogue.

Occupational Transition to Dunedin

Occupational transitions occur as a result of developmental change such as aging or can occur as a response to a particular life event (Rodger, 2010).  the scripting we decided to put in is because it is straight to the point and says what the two main transitions for us were when moving down to dunedin.

Rodger, S. (2010). Occupation-centred practice with children: A practical guide for occupational therapists. United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell.

Tutorial one: Information Technology

This blog is focusing on information technology "We use the term information technology or IT to refer to an entire industry. In actuality, information technology is the use of computers and software to manage information." (Schneider, 2012) Information technology is so much more than just computers it is now cellphones, home phones, cameras, ipads, alarm clocks and television it surrounds us all day everyday.

Information Technology is a huge part of our lives, it is what shapes society. Throughout society technology is "a branch of engineering that deals with the use of computers and telecommunications to retrieve and store and transmit information" (Howe, 2012) It has come so far and is an amazing things especially for people like Andy using the Iportal this video shows how he is more independant using the iportal.

I currently use technology on a day to day basis, I use it for many reasons such as my cellphone for reminders and the time and date. I use my laptop for study and class work, I also use my laptop to keep in contact with friends and family that are living all over New Zealand and Australia. Having technology makes getting to know someone or something a whole lot better. I personally am a few steps behind the technology, I am comfortable in using most devices that have been around as i have been growing up, I have been given the opportunity to use certain technologies.I do struggle a lot with all the new technology that has been introduced in the last few years. Technology comes and goes so fast that I do not get a chance to experience them enough and for me it takes awhile to get used to how new things work. However without technology I would struggle to do a lot of the activities that I participate in daily living. I now rely on technology a lot and it is a big part of how i live my life.

Throughout placement I came across technology that I was familiar with and also technologies that  I had never heard of. I found this very interesting and soon became confident in helping the clients use certain technology. Technologies such as switches were used by the occupational therapist, these are used for clients who do not have the ability to do certain things such as not having hand movement to turn something on so the switch is placed on the wheelchair by their head so they push the switch to turn a certain technology on. This gives the client more freedom and independence, when they know that they have turned the bubble machine on themselves their face lights up in happiness. This is why technology is so good for Occupational therapist to use in practice.

The Occupational therapist will have to have a good understanding of how to work the piece of technology that is being used or it will not work out and go to plan. As technology is growing it is also getting more complex so having a good understanding of the positives and negatives of the equipment is important.
For future Occupational therapists Ipad's will be a major piece of technology that will be used. It is good in many ways to help out clients with all sorts of different needs such as Autistic children learning how to write letters. This video will give you a look into an O.T working with a child with Autism on an Ipad.

References:

Howe, D. (2012). Technology. Retrieved April 2012,from Dictionary.com:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/technology

Schneider, L. (2012). About.com. Retrieved April 2012, from Information Technology - Definition and History: http://jobsearchtech.about.com/od/careersintechnology/p/ITDefinition.htm

Iportal Accesability,(2011). dynamiccontrolstube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7ruriBtY2M&feature=related

(Howe, Technology, 2012)

Howe, D. (2012). Technology. Retrieved April 2012, from Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/technology