Hi everyone ,

I am a first-year university student currently studying Introduction to Occupational Therapy by O'Brien and Hussey.

If anyone knows a book, website or any other material that that offer relevant questions or exercises , I would greatly appreciate your recommendations.

thanks

I'm looking for some insight into how occupational therapists work on feeding with toddlers.

My son is 18 months old and weighs only 21 lbs (10th %ile), and we are struggling to get him to eat better. He isn't a picky eater, at least not the way I usually see picky eating described. He will eat a pretty decent variety of foods and flavors, but is very idiosyncratic when it comes to what he chooses to eat on a daily basis. Oftentimes I will make something for him he has happily eaten previously and he will reject it. Or he will eat a lot of dish I've made one day but refuse it the next day. Thus far I haven't figured out any pattern to what he will and will not eat - it really doesn't seem to correlate with any particular flavors or textures. It makes it hard to follow the guidance I've seen recommended for reluctant eaters - to serve safe foods alongside new foods at each meal. He also tends to only eat small quantities of food before getting restless and wanting to be finished (which usually manifests as throwing food on the ground and ripping off his bib).

I was doing some research on feeding therapy, but a lot of what I was reading seemed geared towards picky eaters who only eat a small number of different foods, rather than my little weirdo who just wants only hat he wants and only when he wants it.

Is this kind of eating behavior something that OT can help with? If so, what sort of OT approaches should I be looking out for when trying to find a therapist for him?

Hi all. Just had an initial appointment with a client and her mother. Client is 9 months old presenting with Neurological Disability.

She is fitted in with a NG-tube, has poor head and neck control, low tone, hearing loss both ears, and was found to have 1p36 deletion syndrome.

She stayed in the hospital from birth to 4 months and had assessments done by an OT and PT. Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination and Prechtl's General Movements Assessments.

What would be the best and most appropriate assessment tool that I can use to check her motor skills? I am thinking of PDMS-3. Can you please give any insights.

Thank you.

Hi guys,

I am hoping to study occupational therapy in Sydney soon and am interested in the Mental Health sector

Can any current OTs give me a general idea of what sort of patients they usually see?

I have actually never met anyone who has seen an occupational therapist for mental health, so I'm wondering what kind of patients i'd be treating, or if mental health OTs are more typically employed at disability centres, hospitals, etc.

Thanks!

I am a mom who is desperately looking for advice. I have taken my kid to multiple therapists and he is still not eating solids. He has a texture/sensory issue and he has been doing really well with his sensory issue overall. He has been with his current therapist for almost a year, and I can’t get my 3yo to try/eat food by himself. All he like to eat are liquids (loaded blended soup with plenty of protein) or juices and tons and tons of water, however, he loves Oreos cookies and Doritos (the only solid he willingly eats) and he might eat half a chicken nugget is done playfully or maybe 2 French fries, but that’s it. Please help, I do therapies at home instructed by his OT and he does pretty ok but at some point he refuses the food and starts crying or just tries to leave the room. I try to not force it because I don’t want him to have a bad experience with food, but I’m worried he is not making much progress with his chewing and swallowing. Please any advice on what I can do is GREATLY appreciated. Also, my son goes to daycare, so unfortunately I’m not able to spend all day with him but I do try to at least do 2 chewing sessions a week plus his one session in person with his OT. Thank you guys

Just looking for the positives of working in outpatient settings. Mostly wondering about ortho but also peds and any other settings you are in!

Thanks ☺️

In USA. We do at my hospital but management has been getting kind of weird about it. Wondering about other hospitals. We don’t do it for patients who are more independent obviously - these are patients who are medically complex and have very poor activity tolerance

ISO anyone who travels to Stanbridge from Rancho Cucamonga area or anywhere relatively close. I am in the the OT program and car issue. Will help pay for gas.

I have a patient with limited shoulder ROM and pain after a mechanical fall, x rays all negative. Should I start with heat and gentle PROM? Any other tips?

Hi everyone! Can you give me advice on how to pass the SEAS JKAT and CA? I had my JKAT last week and i failed. Im going to try again this coming week, any recommendations? I had repeatedly read and watch the JKAT modules but im still anxious i wont pass the 2nd attempt. Also, what books did you read for the CA? Thanks

Hi all! My experience for OT is in school, EI, and pediatric outpatient; and I just applied for an adult HH position. Does anyone have any suggestions for questions to ask in the interview? Or things to negotiate? It’s been a minute (11 years) since I’ve been in the adult population but want to brush up and expand in my abilities- thank you in advance !

Hello! I read the rules, and I feel like I'm not breaking any of them, but I'm sorry if this is. Please redirect me to another sub that might help if need be. While my kiddo will be going back to his occupational therapist in a few months, I'm still trying my best to work with him at home.

My 23 month old lvl 3 autistic kiddo has fine motor issues. One thing I'm really stumped about helping him with is wrist rotation. Putting a key into something and turning it, is too difficult for him - even the toddler toys I've found. Door knobs are too difficult for him to grip. I've found a single toy that works for him - one of those pop-up toys, and one of them you turn a knob to make the dinosaur pop up. He loves it! It's perfect for his hand size, and turns so easily.

If you have no toy suggestions, please tell me what key words I should be looking up? "Wrist rotation" doesn't get me very far.

Hi! I’ve been an OT for 3 years and I just started a job where I will be supervising COTAs. I am expected to meet with them a certain amount of time each week for supervision. I’m trying hard to lead from behind and respect the experience the COTAs have as they have been there longer than me! I was told by one of the COTAs that she’s been there for so long she doesn’t need supervision time. How do I approach this? Don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings but also don’t want to sign off on anyone’s work without putting in my due diligence as an OTR. I also want to get information so I can be accurate with reporting at PPTs. Had anyone else faced this sort of challenge as an OTR with relatively minimal experience? I’m also super shy/non confrontational so I get nervous when older clinicians question my work.

Anyone work for a hospital under NYC Health and Hospitals? I am interested and would like to know more about the pay scale and pension. There isn’t much info on the web about this. Thanks in advance!

So I'm a newly registered OT working in mental health. My manager pulled me up in front of another OT and a student regarding my facial reactions. Stating that my obvious facial reactions could be confusing to my patients. This was a week after an incident where this had apparently been noticed. I was a bit taken aback, and I guess felt targeted. As it wasn't raised earlier.

I have ADHD and it seems like I'm being asked to mask. Ive reflected on this and recognise how this is something my partner has always said to me also. I guess I'm being asked to work on a poker face, yet I guess I'm experiencing rejection sensitive dysphoria. Any neuro divergent OTs got any advice for me.

Hi there I work in a nursing home as activities and have a resident who used to love to knit but her fingers are very bent and stiff from arthritis. I was wondering if there was any kind of adaptive devices or suggestions anyone had?

Any advice or things you wish you knew going in? Was it difficult to market yourself to companies?

I’m going to evaluate someone with arthrogryposis, and the patient can’t get into a lot of the positions I learned for measuring ROM (such as supine with elbow flexed to 90 for shoulder rotation; pt. also can’t do HBB). Is there another way to get specific numbers?

I feel like an idiot asking but I am only able to find the full AOTA Inspire conference speakers through the app (which is very clunky). Does anyone have a link to all the speakers dates/times?

Thanks

Hi everyone!

Can someone provide some insight into transitioning from an occupational therapist to applying to DO schools? What path did you take? Was it worth it? Did you have to take other pre requisite courses to apply or did your doctorate degree in OT fulfill some of the requirements?

Also, I have been seeing some posts that if you have your masters or doctorate, some schools are allowing you to apply without an MCAT score?

Please feel free to message me or reply to this! I would love the feedback & insight.

Patient has a lot of cognitive impairments as well.

How would you guys approach this? I an in an inpatient setting. Thank you

Hi everyone

I work in a special need school and there is an autistic student that tries to sneaks into toilets and takes sanitary pads and nappies out of the bin and smells them. The students also tries to go after children with nappies on. This student is in year 7, age 11. We have asked parents to take him for blood tests to check if he has iron deficiency.

We have trialled smell pots, sensory diet , oral motor programme , and deep touch pressure .

Any suggestions?

Looking into joining an OTA program and one of the requirements is to take the HESI exam. Has anyone ever done this for a program? Any tips/ advice?

Hey everyone :)

I was recently accepted into CSUDH and I am ecstatic! I didn't think I would actually get in. I feel immensely grateful as this is a really affordable and overall, great program. However, it's a Spring semester start so it doesn't give me a lot of time to find a place to move into and adjust to the city. I'm still waiting for a response from SJSU and would prefer it for the location and Fall start.

I applied to both schools knowing there was a chance I would get into CSUDH and not hear back from SJSU in time. However, I did try to apply to SJ right when their cycle opened to increase my chances of getting in/hearing back earlier. I should probably just put my deposit in and forget about SJ but part of me wants to hear back from them before making a decision. I've reached out to SJ and the admissions team stated we could expect to hear back in December or early January. I've asked DH for an extension on my decision deadline but I'm still waiting for their response.

Has anyone been in a similar situation before? Any advice helps, thank you!

Hi! Has anyone in here gotten there OTD at Edgewood college or MUSC if so I’d love some insight on the programs to help me decide which program I should go too 😬

Hello all,

I’m a new grad OT who graduated this year. I obtained my first job at a school district. Right now, I have a caseload of 50 kids spread across 10 schools. I'm only in my second week on the job.

I'm feeling really overwhelmed trying to keep track of all the names on my caseload, the frequency of services, and the mountain of paperwork I need to get done. Honestly, I can't wait for winter break :( spring break :( summer break. I just need some reassurance that things will get easier.

I want to quit.

I see so many posts about people wanting to pursue ota as a career and there are a lot of responses saying that it's better to go for a cna or nursing degree instead.

The only similarities I see with these two fields are the amount of schooling needed. They are completely different jobs, i feel if you think Ot is like nursing then you aren't actually doing ot. Why do I always see these two professions being compared, am I missing something. I'm only an ota student right now, so I could be totally wrong.

To the amazing OTs, COTAs, and therapy professionals improving lives every day, your dedication to helping individuals reach their fullest potential is truly inspiring. Your hard work and compassion deserve endless appreciation!

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Would I be able to become an OTA or do I need to get my OTA degree first? I'm in California if that matters.

I'm debating on OTA degree or getting my Bachelor's and then taking my masters eventually, but I do need to work while I'm in school so I was hoping I can become an OTA without having to do a 2 year associates program first (I already have my associates, however it's in pre nursing)

Hi I’m 45 disabled due to MS. I have severe spasticity in my hips and legs. I have difficulty transferring and I use a mobility scooter when I’m not sleeping. I slaying a lift chair on my back. Any advice? I’m getting pain in my hips and tightness.