This is a great handout to keep in our tool box. The majority of patient's these days need to be able to conserve energy while they heal. In our fast paced society it is hard for people to slow down. EC techniques are useful for our clients and ourselves at times.

Bear with me on the title and intention of this article. There are a lot if implications here for the future of OT as well. These are exciting times we are living in.

A lot of us are thinking ahead to level two and trying to get organized. I have found this article with some helpful hints and several links for "surviving level two fieldwork" Hope this helps.

What caught my eye in this article was that the author says that 30% of the clients in the SNF she works in have contractures. She then goes on explain how we as therapists should be "declaring war on contractures". She recommends carrying around our goniometers with some alcohol swabs. How else are we going to document improvement, right? This is a great reminder to any new clinician starting out.

Botox was approved for medical usage in 2010. We are starting to see it being added to the patient's tool belt. Therapy is still very important when a client is suffering from the affects of spasticity. Botox can help the therapists help the patient's. Botox relaxes the muscle and tissues it is injected into thus allowing not only some relief of the pain of spasticity but the ability of the patient to move better.

Burn care is a highly specialized field. It can be intimidating. There is a lot to learn and be aware of. Read this article to see how a young therapist treated his first burn victim. This is also an example of co-treating with PT. I personally love the idea of co-treatment. Two are usually better than one.

Silver ring splints are taking over tape. When I first heard of these finger splints being used for hypermobility syndrome about 10 years ago, I thought this was genius! Now they are expanding the use as well as studying to see the positive/negative uses for them. We now have boutonniere splints, as well as swan neck splints.

For those of you that may be interested in furthering their education regarding hand therapy. There is a lot of good information here on how to get started and what the current requirements are.

I am not sure I like that fact that they refer to sexual abilities be less affected in women with SCI than men. In my opinion it is a tad sexist and biased. Aside from that this article contains some information that would be helpful to be aware of going into to working with clients with SCI.

My good friend Ragi Doggweiler is a researcher and practicing physician in this field. Once located right here in Knoxville she has moved back to her homeland of Switzerland. We have often had conversations about what PT's could do for this population but until I revisited this paper I had not thought of the under-utilization of OT practitioners in this area. While PT can and does work on the physical aspects of these issues OT would greatly enhance the treatments in so many ways.

My husband and I met in a rock climbing class in North Carolina. Imagine my excitemen,t as a future COTA, when I got an email from our very own River Sports Outfitters advertising this! Their motto is "Catalyst Sports is dedicated to providing adaptive climbing opportunities to anyone with a physical disability." How cool is this???? I can't wait to volunteer!

I have become increasingly interested in the topic if research lately. This article does a good job of showing how some simply misrepresent data and leads me to believe more in looking for the source of the research as well as the personal interest the researcher may have on the subject. Research and the source of it can give us a lot of information. Not all research is reliable though.

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.

I posted this video on facebook. Some people left mean comments about it but I still think it is a wonderful invention. It states in the description that it is not meant for highway use. It has given this woman back some of her independence and I think it is worth it. No, you probably do not want to drive down the interstate with it but it;s great for getting around town at a slow and steady speed.

A friend of mine built a sensory room for her child about a year ago. I was fascinated by this. Her dedication to her children never ceases to amaze me. She has adopted three children with special needs. She teaches foster care classes and is in the process of getting trained to teach CPR and first aid for mental health. She built her sensory room on a budge, a tight one. Since we are getting ready to discuss sensory integration I thought this would be an appropriate topic to post here. I can't wait to help clients put together one of these. How fun!

who remembers backward chaining from Neuro class? It applies to all ages. It can be very helpful with the pediatric population. It involves breaking down the steps in hopes of making a task easier. Great idea for all ages.

This covers the three areas of prevention we briefly touched on this week and that was mentioned in the Early quiz. I did not remember what tertiary prevention was so I went looking for an article to help me. I hope this helps someone else keep this straight too.

I was searching for information on tertiary prevention when I came across this website. I got completely sidetracked. This article talks about a study that was done on strength training related to reducing work related injuries. Strength training was actually encouraged on the job. Reminded me of how my husband took an empty space at his work and turned it into a place for his co-workers to work out when they wanted to. They have a couple of punching bags and mats and even have a boxing instructor and Krav Maga instructor that teaches them a couple of times a week. I like that there are studies backing up strength training at work.

Imagine being house-bound with little to no hope of getting out of the house again. Imagine losing your freedom and missing the long road on the back of a motorcycle. Now imagine being able to ride a motorcycle again with adaptations made so that you can do so independently. Here is one man's story about how he dug himself up out of depression post diagnosis. This is how he regained some of his independence.

Since we are learning about EADL this week I wanted to share this article. As I was reading this it surprised me that one of the smartest men on earth had trouble using the software device. The article pointed out that this 72 year old (Stephen Hawking) did not grow up using an iphone etc. That is something to think about when treating clients of all ages. I love that Hawking had a group of people working on this project for him and with him. He is able to communicate with the use of one muscle in his face. Read on to see how they are working on picking up on his brain waves to help him communicate. FASCINATING!