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This is a really interesting study that I read,"An Occupational Therapist Perspective on Sexual Health." This particular study is about how confident they are when OTs are talking to their clients about sex. If the client ask a question pertaining to sex, how many don't think twice about answering and do they answer the question correctly. Another thing that I found interesting in this study is that health professions were surveyed: Thee professionals were asked and about 90% of the surveyed population said sex talk was holistic, but only 6% reported that they discussed it. So, if OT knows that it is an important aspect. Why don't we talk more often? - Well, read and see!! ; )

This article from the today shows website talks about the CP foundations campaign of "just say hi". It addresses the fact that people with disability do not require any other treatment than people who do not. The first step .. just say hi, I feel like this is such a huge topic and I am very interested in backing this campaign. I hope you all find it as interesting as me!

That is a really great campaign! I think most people have issues with greeting people with disabilities and initiating small talk. In one of my linguistics classes, there was a blind student. None of the other students really talked to him, either because they did not know how to or simply because they did not care (unfortunately). I later read an article about blind students at my university, in which he was interviewed. He said that other students were reserved and were not really ready to interact with blind students. That is really sad. Therefore, campaigns like "just say hi' are very important!

Be approachable, open-minded and non-judgmental. This is a great checklist to read over before talking with your clients about sex. Included is how to provide an environment that the client feels safe speaking of sex, key areas that should be covered, some barriers that are faced by minority populations, and many reminders to be open minded, non-judgmental, and to keep your personal beliefs out of the discussion.

I have a huge problem with being able to delegate tasks and then I get so stressed out because I have 30 million things to do in a day. - This article talks about how we need to learn to delegate things and if we don't ever do it, the responsibilities are going to bog you down. It also talks about 3 ways to learn how to delegate in order to 'master' the process. I think this is a very handy tool that will get rid of some of the unnecessary stress!

At my last fieldwork placement I got to watch a couple of driving assessments. Driving brings a person much freedom. Taking away the privilege can be devastating to some. This article gives some good tips on to talk with a loved one about their ability or non-ability to drive. I think the tips would apply to those of us who find ourselves working in situations where we would have to talk with client's about this subject.

This is a tough issue. I used to worry about my grandmother so much. She started having little fender benders. It is good for us to be aware as COTA's how significant driving or not driving can be to our clients.

The conversation regarding when someone should no longer drive could be quite hard. I found this website that gives advise on how to have this conversation. It discusses how to plan for it, how to bring it up, how to handle objections and the environment in which it should take place. It also talks about how to help the individual with the transition (finding other means of transportation, etc).

When we talked about cancer, I believe we talked about the adults more and not a lot about the children. This website talks about complications that can occur in children who survive cancer.

This relates to Unit 2 (the aging adult). I was talking with my grandmother and she made a statement, "it's hard to age gracefully". So, I went searching and I came across 10 tips on how to age gracefully. Most of them should be common sense and we've talked about them in class. Maybe we could give these tips to our older clients?

Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Workplace Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) affect the muscles, nerves and tendons. Work related MSDs (including those of the neck, upper extremities and low back) are one of the leading causes of lost workday injury and illness.

This is a really great website that talks about ergonomics in the workplace. It specifically talks about how to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. One thing unique about this website is that it also address what the employers responsibilities are and what rights the worker has in regards to prevention, and a safe workplace. It gives multiple links to OSHA standards for a workplace, and also a list of some of the top careers that result in musculoskeletal disorders.

Excuse some of the expletives in this article but I found it to be share-worthy. This is a Q&A article with five women who have had some sort of physical disability impact their lives. They are asked candid questions about how their disability affects their sexuality. I feel like looking back at this source will help me feel more comfortable speaking about sexuality with a client.

Danny Jarvis is a football coach with a degree in leisure management. He is funny, has an independent mind and loves his job. He also suffers from cerebral palsy and relies on a full-time carer to wash and feed him. At 32 he was still a virgin until his friend, Jennie Williams, took him to a brothel in Amsterdam.

This is a current (2013) piece by PBS that talks about how seniors can 'age in place' in their home by being in touch with programs that come together to help each other with ADLs and IADLs. For example, the Capital Hill Village is a group of seniors who work together to make sure they are all taken care of in their home. This means that someone can volunteer to count pills, garden, or even take them to the doctor. The most important benefit of this group seems to be the social relationships and connecting with people. As OTAs we need to educate oursleves on what type of community programs are available so we can educate the elderly on how to more safely and soically age in place. Also, at the end of the clip it talks about home assessments and how everyone needs a plan for aging!

This is a great resource for travelers with disabilities. There are many travel tips including talking to the service providers before the trip and be specific about your needs. It reminds you to be prepared and to know your rights. Embedded in the article is a guide to the rights of disabled travelers. Included is a list of resources and websites with a short description that really was helpful and easy to navigate. At the end of the article there was a place where one can share their own travel tips.

I really thought about this website when I was checking out of a hotel yesterday and saw a woman coming out of the hotel in her wheelchair and her husband was carrying all her adaptive equipment to make travel easier for her. Travel is something as OTAs that we need to think about when we are identifying clients 'occupations'.

This is the pamphlet from Hamilton General Hospital that is given to their burn patients. It covers everything we discussed in class with Teri in easy to understand language and provides visual aids of the different levels of burns. It also talks about the role of OT, exercises, diet and nutrition, coping and recovery, ADLs, caring for the skin, and what the patient is to do once they return home. Good info!

Awesome TEDtalk by Todd Kuiken about Targeted Muscle Reinnervation (the future of UE prothesis). This is a much watch video about the future of UE prosthesis. Targeted Muscle Reinnervation is an intuitive way to use hand and elbow prothesis with your thoughts. This is a better way to control your arm and grasp patterns. And hopefully in the future this technology will allow its users to 'feel' sensations in their prosthetic hand. Amanda, the patient talks about how the most important thing to her in working with children was the ability to clap again. Great video! Very informative.

Talks about the role of OT practioners regarding sexuality and disability.

Role of OT practitioners regarding sexuality and disability.

This article discusses the unique role of OT in sexuality and the PLISSIT model as well.

Info about the radioactive seeds we talked about in class, really nice info!!

This is an example of the standers we talked about in class last week.

This video was very insightful! They talked about different terms used such as "chair chaser" (look that up on urban dictionary), spinal cord injuries and sex, drugs that can be used to assist with sex, assisted devices such as a love wedge (helps with movement) and toys used for individuals with sensation issues. They also indicated that for some people sex is therapy. It can help alleviate pain.

When I saw that we would be talking about RA in class I started looking into it more. My sister who is only 20, was told by her doctor that she may have RA and they are currently doing further testing. At first I thought "there's no way" shes only 20! But then I did some research and found this article. RA is actually fairly common in young adults, especially women. More specifically, there is a 1 in 714 chance for a woman in her 20s to develop RA. This article goes into more detail about these statistics and the cause.

I read in a Health magazine just last night that taking or if you have taken birth control pills, it helps guard against RA.

An issue that an individual with an amputee might have is moisture control. I searched for products available that might help with this. I came across this you tube video and they talk about how they developed a sock specifically for individuals with amputees. However, since then they now products for anyone (athletes). Here's a link to their webpage http://www.swiftwick.com/valor-liner-socks-60-ctg.htm If we were working with someone that had this problem, we could possibly offer this as a solution.