Growing to your full pOTential

       As part of the Neuro Aspects course I'm taking in OT school, I participated in a clinical simulation encounter today during which I administered a cognitive screening to a person with a recent history of stroke. It was a very interesting experience where I got to learn a lot first hand administering an assessment and analyzing what I did well on and what I need to work on. Cognition focuses on an individual's attention and understanding. Cognition is about how the person reasons with things and how they see things. It's part of many aspects of an individual, like how they think, their memory, mobility, vision, and even every aspect of their lifestyle.         The client scored a 16 on the SLUMS test, which we didn't complete so he had more questions left. This score indicated that he had dementia. He knew what he wanted to say but he got frustrated at certain points when he had difficulties and it was a bit hard. In a hospital, home an...

         I watched a TEDx Talk video titled Can I Have Your Brain by Chris Nowinski, who is an American neuroscientist. I chose this resource because it was about concussions and  I  wanted to know details from someone's point of view. We are currently learning about Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and Non-Traumatic Brain Injuries. The topic of concussions, especially when it comes to athletes is something i usually like to search about because my brothers weren't allowed to play football because of fear of concussions and anything affecting their brain. Many athletes suffer from brain injuries due to concussions from mostly being hit in the head which causes dementia, psychosis and even death, known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.        I learned a lot from this resource. One thing Chris Nowinski talked about was the importance of studying brains. He talked about how these brain problems could be prevented if athletes or peopl...

     This is a TEDx talk about ADHD in girls and women by Martha Barnard-Rae. She first talked about her being someone with ADHD and what women and girls with ADHD feel especially with the act that most of the women, hyperactivity is not seen physical but rather in mind and studies including women didn't actually start till late 1990s.  To get more knowledge, I looked over our study guide from class about ADHD which we covered recently that explained what ADHD is and some processes, a personal story of a friend of mine who was diagnosed with ADHD and some other resources on ADHD in women and girls. She talked about how ADHD is hard for the ones for who have it especially when it comes to attention because when they have a lot of attention, they Cant control it since its too much. I chose this resource because since we recently talked about ADHD in class, it was fresh on my mind and I wanted to hear first hand experience from someone and TED talks are usually helpful ...

       Appropriately fitting a patient for an assistive device is important that it can prevent many issues. As a future practitioner, It's important that I help patients get appropriate assistive devices to first prevent injuries like falls. If the assistive device isn't an appropriate fit, the client can end up slipping and fall, when the device is appropriately fitted, the client is secure and can move in stable manner without anything slipping.  Another importance of appropriate fitting is the comfort of the client. Clients need to be comfortable and feel okay with the device. The device is there to help and not stop them from moving comfortably or causing any pain while they use it. So making sure the device is fitted in all important place. Fitting for a cane: When it comes to canes, there are two kinds which are the standard and the quad cane. The standard cane gives more freedom of movement and the quad cane is known for more stability with its four poin...

         An advertisement I've seen that really sticks to me is this tomato paste advertisement from Ghana. The brand is Gino and it is known as one of the top brands in Ghana. In this commercial, the target is to admire mothers and encourage them since in most African countries, mothers are seen as the ones who cook,  so there are children trying to figure things out and their mom comes in to help them. And they all admire her and say she's the best at all things. The emotions throughout this commercial stick out to me a lot because its something I wish I could have fully experienced and this place a part with mirror neurons because we feel empathy and emotion with whatever we see. Close to the end, she uses the Gino tomato paste to cook and the her husband asks her about it and she responds that its the same paste she uses but in different package. The children said that the mother always knows best. The advertisement itself is very relaxing, especially w...

       In transfers, we move an individual from one surface to the other safely. It's important that any transfer made is safe and very efficient. Here are are somethings a therapist consider while performing transfer to be safe and effective.        To ensure a safe and efficient transfer, the therapist should know the patient's capabilities and information. This begins with the therapist understanding the client's balance, strength, body type, endurance, Range of Motion, where the therapist tests the limit or extent the client's joint moves around, orthortics/prosthetics, their wheel chair style and learning style. Knowing all these factors will help the therapist understand how to work with the client.         Secondly, the therapist should make sure they are prepared. Things that are important when preparing are the physical strength of the therapist, emotions, body mechanics and their body size compared to the client'...

     For this blog, we chose two states and read chapters about them in the books, 50 Abilities, Unlimited Possibilities: Racing to the Final Finish Line From Salt Lake City to the Mountains of Montana and 50 Abilities, Unlimited Possibilities: Wheeling Through 50 States. These books talk about Paul Erway and his friends journey in completing 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 weeks. This is really and eye-opening reading about our society and the motivation behind what we as human beings do regardless of our abilities and disabilities. The two states I focused on were Arizona and Virginia/ DC, where his sub-titles for them were enthusiasm and integrity.                                                                Phoenix, Arizona:     The first state I read was his experience in Arizona. The subtitle...