Blog Post Challenge 1: Universal Design

As time and technology continue to advance, people with and without disabilities are living longer, making universal design increasingly important. Universal design involves making products and environments accessible for all people. The theory is intriguing to me because so many people can be involved from design, construction, advocacy, etc. Occupational therapists even have a role with universal design in helping to make a client’s physical environment accessible for their occupations to be carried out.

Over the past year, my grandfather’s health has been decreasing. He was always the type to be on the go. He woke up early and hit the roads. He is now between a walker and a wheel chair having a difficult time moving around his home. I hope to one day, as an occupational therapist, be able to help make adjustments and designs for environments for my clients who are like my grandfather.

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Reflection #1 "Think Happy Thoughts"

Yesterday, Virginia and I led a group session about cultivating a positive attitude we named, "Think Happy Thoughts." I then used the exercise provided in our groups book to lead my reflection on the experience of our facilitation. Although nervous to lead the group, I feel that we did a great job engaging the group members. We led off with a warm-up activity where the group members could state how positive/negative they felt at the moment. I think this was a good way to start the group because it was Monday morning and many of us were feeling negative about the upcoming week. The warm-up prepared the group for the session and allowed them to get their feelings out about the upcoming week. I think the activity we chose was good in facilitating the group goals. Because the group members were my classmates, I found it difficult to know how involved to be in the activity. I think it will be interesting to lead my first client group and compare the differences of facilitation b...

12-Step Meeting

After attending a 12-step meeting, I can see how it is beneficial to my learning of the group process. In this particular meeting, I felt the leader took on more of an advisory role because he was a passive leader and did not provide a lot of structure to the group. The group session was more of an open discussion. He led the group off by asking what everyone wanted to talk about that day which encouraged group members to participate. I think it was a good way to get started and allow the group to guide the session. I think because the environment was a nice, quiet, church building, maybe members were more comfortable. There weren't any distractions such as traffic or hallway noises which I think helped the focus of the members. I think this group session was therapeutic because the members were able to talk about their feelings in an open format, and I think any time someone shares their thoughts or feelings it is therapeutic. I did reflect on maybe some differences if this were...

Neuro Note 1: Me Before You

Me Before You I chose to watch Me Before You for my first neuro note. I chose this movie because of the hype it has received. Critics claimed that the movie misportrayed disability. I wanted to see for myself. Although the movie is probably the saddest movie I’ve ever seen, it left me with many reflections. Will Traynor was a successful, fun loving young man whose life was altered when he was hit by a motorcycle which resulted in a spinal cord injury. Will became depressed and felt like there was no reason to live. I think sometimes it’s too easy to just think about the physical changes when you think of SCI, but it’s important to recognize the emotional toll as well. His life was completely turned upside down and he had a difficult time dealing with it. I’m sure this is a common theme with SCI and I think it can be difficult for people to imagine. I’ve always, from a young age, strived to treat everyone equal because you NEVER know what someone is going through. ...

Whitney OT425

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