Uses knowledge and information in an innovative way
Occupational therapy is one of those unique professions because it draws from a variety of professions such as teaching, medicine, and psychology, to name a few. These areas all contribute to being able to work with our clients and provide novel ways to the same thing that they normally do in therapy sessions. One thing I feel every occupational therapy student faces is: what's something new that I can try doing with my clients? I had this same thought during my second fieldwork rotation when my fieldwork educator gave me the chance to lead two groups. She recommended I educate my clients on oral hygiene, but she let me decide how I was going to do that on my own. She wanted me to research information on oral hygiene in children and come up with a creative way to get the kids involved.
I first researched common problems concerning oral hygiene faced by children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down syndrome. One thing I learned was that children with Down syndrome can either have oral hypo- or hypersensitivities. If a child is hypersensitive, this usually means he or she has oral defensiveness and will not like brushing his or her teeth (Eckersley, 2013). According to Eckersley (2013), children who have oral sensitivities may have other tactile sensitivities throughout the body such as a dislike for touching messy objects or different textures. Although this may not seem like a big issue, these sensitivities can impact a child's ability to perform activities of daily living such as brushing his or her teeth.
Brushing teeth can be an overwhelming and unsettling experience for many children with oral hypersensitivity. For instance, my cousin has Down syndrome and ASD, and he will avoid brushing his teeth at all costs because he doesn't like the feeling when he or his parents brush his teeth. Unfortunately he has experienced several cavities because he refuses to brush his teeth. Nevertheless, he dislikes the feeling of brushing his teeth so much that he will avoid the activity at the expense of getting a toothache.
With this in mind, I wanted an activity that would give my clients the chance to practice the brushing motions in a novel way while also learning why they need to brush their teeth. I turned to Pinterest for ideas and came across a picture of an oversized mouth. It gave me the idea to not only provide my clients with an opportunity to practice brushing the fake teeth, but to also use their fingers to remove the Play Doh from between the teeth. My reasoning for doing this additional step would be to work on tactile sensitivities with a different and messy texture like Play Doh.
I feel this was an effective intervention that not only educated my clients about the importance of brushing their teeth but it also gave them a chance to practice brushing teeth in a comfortable way and in a safe environment. In the end, I felt this activity was a great way to creatively apply the information I had researched to a population who could benefit from it.
I created the mouth out of red poster board, clear tape, and Pringles chip containers. I used yellow, green, brown and black washable markers to color the teeth to give the kids a visual of the areas of the teeth that needed to be cleaned up with tooth brushes. I provided a cup of water to wet the kids’ tooth brushes too. Yellow and green Play Doh was placed between each tooth.
Resources:
Eckersley, S. (2013, August 4). Occupational therapy for children: Mouth activities. Retrieved from http://occupationaltherapyforchildren.over-blog.com/article-mouth-activities-118113011.html .
I first researched common problems concerning oral hygiene faced by children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down syndrome. One thing I learned was that children with Down syndrome can either have oral hypo- or hypersensitivities. If a child is hypersensitive, this usually means he or she has oral defensiveness and will not like brushing his or her teeth (Eckersley, 2013). According to Eckersley (2013), children who have oral sensitivities may have other tactile sensitivities throughout the body such as a dislike for touching messy objects or different textures. Although this may not seem like a big issue, these sensitivities can impact a child's ability to perform activities of daily living such as brushing his or her teeth.
Brushing teeth can be an overwhelming and unsettling experience for many children with oral hypersensitivity. For instance, my cousin has Down syndrome and ASD, and he will avoid brushing his teeth at all costs because he doesn't like the feeling when he or his parents brush his teeth. Unfortunately he has experienced several cavities because he refuses to brush his teeth. Nevertheless, he dislikes the feeling of brushing his teeth so much that he will avoid the activity at the expense of getting a toothache.
With this in mind, I wanted an activity that would give my clients the chance to practice the brushing motions in a novel way while also learning why they need to brush their teeth. I turned to Pinterest for ideas and came across a picture of an oversized mouth. It gave me the idea to not only provide my clients with an opportunity to practice brushing the fake teeth, but to also use their fingers to remove the Play Doh from between the teeth. My reasoning for doing this additional step would be to work on tactile sensitivities with a different and messy texture like Play Doh.
I feel this was an effective intervention that not only educated my clients about the importance of brushing their teeth but it also gave them a chance to practice brushing teeth in a comfortable way and in a safe environment. In the end, I felt this activity was a great way to creatively apply the information I had researched to a population who could benefit from it.
I created the mouth out of red poster board, clear tape, and Pringles chip containers. I used yellow, green, brown and black washable markers to color the teeth to give the kids a visual of the areas of the teeth that needed to be cleaned up with tooth brushes. I provided a cup of water to wet the kids’ tooth brushes too. Yellow and green Play Doh was placed between each tooth.
Resources:
Eckersley, S. (2013, August 4). Occupational therapy for children: Mouth activities. Retrieved from http://occupationaltherapyforchildren.over-blog.com/article-mouth-activities-118113011.html .
Disclaimer: I have gone through the correct and ethical procedures to receive permission from the guardians and school for posting pictures of my clients on this website.