01/23/2017-6 hours

On this particular day, I observed the OT work with five children. For most of these kids,
the exercises that she used helped them with pre-writing and writing. Afterwards, she had them
play a couple of games on an iPad, which entailed them to press on an object that was moving
across the screen. This particular activity helped them with isolating their fingers.

01/25/2017-6 hours
On this particular day, the OT needed to attend a parent teacher meeting over the phone.
The childs teacher, physical therapist, and the occupational therapist were all there speaking on
the phone with the parent. As they collaborated, I noticed each of them wrote down the ideas that
the other therapists came up with. To me, I found this interesting because as health professionals,
they are not just concerned with the therapeutic interventions that they use in their specialty but
also the interventions from the others.

01/30/2017-6 hours
On this particular day, as the OT was working with a student, the other regular ed
children would come over and want to play with the OTs supplies. Sometimes she would tell
them that they could not play with them right now, but there were other times that she allowed
them to. After awhile it occurred to me that she was using that opportunity for her students to
socialize. For some of these kids, they really cant always do everything that the regular ed
children are doing. But when it comes to occupational therapy, they are able to or at least attempt
to do an activity that the regular kids can do.

02/01/2017-6 hours
On this particular day, the OT worked with students in the adult program. For that day,
they had to go to a job site and work there for about an hour. Since the OT was working on
following directions and staying attentive with some of the young adults, she had her and I attend
one of the job sites with a couple of them. That experience was really special to me, because I
did not realize that OTs could go to the job sites with the students.

02/06/2017-3 hours
On this particular day, the OT worked with a student on cutting with scissors. For that
particular student, they had cerebral palsy, cognitive delay, and they were unable to speak.
Despite the many obstacles that the student faces, she was still able to come up with a way to
help the student with scissor cutting. She ended up bringing a specific tool that allowed the
student to press a lever down, with only one finger. That experience really showed me the many
different ways that OTs can help someone to achieve a goal.

02/13/2017-6 hours
On this particular day, the OT took a cafeteria tray and poured some non-cooked rice
across it. At first, I had no idea what she was using this for. But after asking her, the purpose was
for the students to trace their letters in the rice. Since they usually practice this with a marker on
some paper, she wanted to do something different with them. This really taught me about the
several different things that OTs can do, in order to help their students, clients, or patients
achieve a goal.

02/15/2017-4.5 hours
On this particular day, the OT had one of the students carry a big sheet of paper over to a
wall and tape it. Afterwards, she had them work on tracing their letters with some markers.
Initially, I had asked the OT if she wanted me to carry the big piece of paper for the student, but
the OT told me that the purpose of having the student carry the piece of paper and tape it to the
wall was to help them resist the pull of gravity. This experience really showed me how important
Biomechanical principles are to Occupational Therapy, and gave me some examples of ways to
apply them to therapy.

02/22/2017- 5.5 hours

On this particular day, the OT had a lot of difficulty with a couple of the students.
Whenever she wanted them to work on the activities, it was very evident that they were not
trying their best. As well, they were very distracted and only wanted to play. Even though the OT
seemed discouraged as she was working with them, she was very patient with them and told
them that if they were finished, then they could play. That experience really taught me to be
patient with the students, clients, or patients whom I am working with. If they are not listening to
me, it is not a great idea to let my emotions get ahold of me, because it will only make things
worse.

2/27/17- 6 hours
 On this particular day, one of the many things I observed was the OT dealing with a
student who was non-compliant. Instead of pushing them to participate in the task that she asked
for them to complete, she ended up telling them that if they chose to not participate in the
activity, than they can leave and play with their friends. After hearing this, the student did choose
to leave and play with their friends. However, much later in the day, she asked the student if they
would like to participate in the therapy and they responded with a yes. To me, I found this to be a
great learning experience, because instead of getting frustrated at the student, she decided to have
them leave the activity and have them do it later in the day. In general, it is very important to not
allow ones emotions to get the best of ones self.

3/06/17- 5.25 hours

On this particular day, one of the many things that the OT needed to do was attend an IEP
meeting. Willingly, she allowed me to observe the meeting, because of the parents permission.
At this particular meeting, the OT spoke about how she has been working on fine motor skills
with him, and she mentioned that she was in the process of researching any adaptive tools that
the students could use to help themselves eat. Even though the OT was still in the process of
finding an adaptive tool, it was very sweet to see how appreciative the parent was for the efforts
that she was putting forth. Despite how difficult and stressful it can be as an OT, it really is an
amazing feeling to not only see the progress in students, patients, and/or clients, but it is also an
amazing feeling to see the appreciation and a feeling of hope that can come from their loved
ones.

3/20/2017= 5.5 hours

On this particular day, one of the many things that the OT needed to do was perform an
assessment on one of the students. Since their three-year progress report was coming up, she
needed to assess where the student was in regards to any improvement from Occupational
Therapy services. While observing, I noticed that the student was being assessed on visual
recognition and writing abilities. As the test continued, so did the difficulty of what the student
needed to figure out. To me, I found this to be very interesting, because OTs need to perform an
assessment before whomever they are seeing. By getting an idea of what the client, patient,
and/or student needs to work on, that will allow them to formulate a treatment plan that is
necessary for their individual needs.

3/22/2017= 6 hours

On this particular day, one of the many things that they OT needed to do was begin the
process of making sure that the following OT would have all of the materials and information
that they need. The reason is because she will be out on maternity leave in the beginning of
April. Some of the preparations that I saw her accomplish were printing enough copies of
worksheets that the next OT can use, when working with each of the students. Even though there
is still another week to go, she wanted to begin the process of preparation. To me, I found this to
be very interesting, because it does make sense for the OT to begin her preparations early. The
reason is because there will be a lot of things that the following OT will need to do on the job.
Overall, this profession is not one where the shoes can be filled in relatively easy. Instead, there
are several areas that this job entails, and it is very important for female OTs to begin their
preparations early for the next OT who will be replacing them for a few months.

03/27/2017- 2 hours
On this particular day, one of the students who the OT worked with was sick. Throughout
my internship, there have been quite a few days when one of the students has had a cold.
However, on this particular day, the students health state required her to be picked up and
brought home. While the OT waited for the mother to arrive, she continued to do Occupational
Therapy with the student. But, she made sure that she put safety gloves on her hands. To me, I
found this to be very important, because I sometimes associate the needs of safety gloves more in
hospitals. However, safety gloves are important to be used even in the school setting. Since the
student puts her hands in her mouth on a regular basis, it was strictly important for the OT to
wear the safety gloves, in order to not catch the sickness from the little girl.

04/03/2017- 6 hours
To be honest, this particular day was probably the hardest day of my internship. What
happened was one of the students was very non compliant with one of the teachers aids. In
general, this particular student has difficulty controlling his emotions and will have a meltdown.
On this occasion, he did not want to go outside during recess and proceeded to have an extreme
meltdown. He began throwing toys at other students and managed to push a couple of kids down.
Throughout all of this, the OT I shadowed was working with another student. Since she was not
working with the other student, she did not intervene because she was already working with a
different one.
Even though it was a rough day, it was a great learning experience in being able to see the
really hard days on the job. As I reflect on my experience, I can honestly say that most of the
days were great days. Despite how difficult this particular day was it was a great learning
experience in being able to see how hard some of the days can be.