This article in the Washington Post about these two older women ask about their secret to living to 102 -- and their answer is work. These women have always stayed active and busy and found much purpose in their lives. Seems like future occupational therapy assistant students could learn a lesson from these two.

This is an inspirational story about a man from Nigeria named Sani Muntari, who acquired polio as a child. He grew up to be a teacher and a father and now campaigns to eradicate polio in his country and plays scooter soccer.

I was reading Early Chapter 33 Amputation and Prosthetics, and there was a paragraph regarding future developments and plans of action. Here, Osseointegration was mentioned, and I had never heard of this term. So, here is an article that describes the process - basically an implant is inserted into the bone of the residual limb. The prosthetic can be attached to this and a socket is not needed. This article talks about the benefits and drawbacks.

This is an old, short 1916 film with no sound showing soldiers, who are amputees, wheelchair racing, playing tug-of-war, marching, and dancing. This is conjecture -- but maybe there are reconstruction aides helping them out -- the people who helped in the development of occupational therapy. Also, this film shows the amputees as NOT helpless, having fun and very much functional.

This story is about a teenager who has invented a prosthetic arm that can be made for $1,000. He's put the 3-D pattern and how to make it online, opening it up for anyone who would like to use it or improve upon it. The story is inspiring about a young man that wants to do good for others.

I haven't observed any acute or critical care units prior to OTA school or during fieldwork. This article gives a first-person account of what occupational therapy does in this setting.

I thought this pamphlet was a good review of pressure ulcers -- where they can develop and what to do to prevent them.

This is a great chart to review for the boards. It has all the nerves of the Brachial Plexus with their origin and function -- complete with pictures.

This article explain how gout is on the rise in the United States -- attributed to obesity and hypertension as well as what exactly gout is.

This story talks about obesity and rising malnutrition (lots of junk food, beer and wine) leading to more cases of gout in the United Kingdom. Gout was known as a disease of the kings and now it is returning.

This is a very detailed PowerPoint regarding Lateral Epicondylitis. The presentation includes the definition, symptoms, assessments, treatments (ranging from activity modification to orthotic interventions) and outcomes. There are great visuals as well -- MRI's and drawings.

This is an interesting story about stigma -- a local Knoxville man is diagnosed with both HIV AND Parkinson's disease. He discusses how people react differently to him depending on which disease he talks about.

Any Catholics out there -- the familiar papal blessing hand gesture used by popes throughout the centuries is thought to have been because of ulnar nerve damage of the first pope. Other popes followed suit and it stuck. This article is interesting in that it explains ulnar nerve damage and explains some history in the process.

This article is pretty amazing in that a senior in college used a 3-D printer to make herself a better splint for an injury that happened while playing softball.

Here is an instance where a dynamic splint made the news. A U.S. Ambassador to South Korea was knifed in the face and hand, and this news clip and article discuss his injuries and the brace that was made for him. I find this very interesting as I am right in the middle of Early Chapter 20 -- Hand Splinting.

This is a MUST read!! This is an incredible story of a woman who can smell Parkinson's disease. After making this assertion, some scientists came up with an experiment to test her claim. Her smell could be a breakthrough for finding an early diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.

This is a newspaper article about a little boy diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (J.I.A.) and his mother's search for a cure. The mother thinks there is a connection between leaky gut syndrome and the JIA. It is a very interesting read, especially reading about his symptoms prior to diagnosis. (spoiler alert -- it has a good ending).

This is a news video about a fitness instructor diagnosed (finally) with Rheumatoid Arthritis. She was in her forties and doctors didn't get the right diagnosis for awhile. This is her story on how to live with the disease.

This isn't a long article but I thought it ties into our evidence based papers that we have done for school. This guy thinks in the future that Occupational Therapists AND Occupational Therapy Assistants will have to use evidence-based research to justify interventions. (In other words, it's not stopping once we graduate)! "Michael Graham expects the next five years to bring an even greater focus on evidence-based care. The 14-year OTR believes there will be greater expectations for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants more quickly implement evidence-based approaches into their practice."

This is an excellent visual to go along with the discussion about the Six-Dimension Wellness Wheel in Chapter 11 of the Early Book.