The Life of a BrOT

    What is Imposter syndrome? Imposter syndrome is when an individual experiences thoughts of being incompetent or lacking abilities to perform in the job they are currently or about to be working in. This is something a lot of fresh, entry-level therapists and other healthcare workers might experience when they get ready to start a new job or career. I have definitely experienced this during the first few weeks of OT school and during the first few days of each fieldwork rotation I have had. I felt that I was not going to be able to learn easily and that I would struggle to learn what OT is and how to treat patients during our rotations. These thoughts quickly came to an end as the program progressed and my time at the fieldwork sites when on.      After going through all the materials for this module on imposter syndrome, I took the Clance IP scale assessment to determine whether or not I had IP characteristics. After completing the 20 questions, I added up my score and it equalled

     What is locus of control? To understand this concept, you have to be familiar with the 2 different types of locus of control - internal and external. Internal locus of control is when a person believes that they are the ones that are shaping their future and nothing in the external world is controlling them. External locus of control is when a person believes that the outside world or any external thing shapes their future and what they do internally does not help at all.       This is important when it comes to occupational therapy because this could help us shape the way we interact with and treat our clients. We could adapt to a person with an internal locus of control by eliciting positive affirmations towards our clients during a treatment. This could potentially increase their engagement in future therapy sessions because they are feeling empowered and their direct hard work is causing them to achieve their goal. A person who has an external locus of control would think that

For my final neuro-note I watched a YouTube video posted by "volleybrad" about his fathers behaviors during his middle stages of Alzheimer's disease. This video broadened my knowledge of the symptoms of this particular disease that are not as well known/talked about. In the video, his father is seen wandering around their house performing "chores" that are not productive. This eventually fatal disease starts by having excessive beta-amyloid protein that builds up in the brain causing irreversible cell damage. It eventually becomes bad enough that an affected brain can shrink and cause a cascade of symptoms that range from difficulty remembering some things to severe memory loss and confusion. I never really knew how an individual's mind was affected with Alzheimer's; I have always thought that everyone with this disease eventually winds up forgetting everything, including who they are. After watching this video, that is not the case. His father still kno

The client I had was Joe, who was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis. Before onset of symptoms he was independent with ADL & iADL function, but since his diagnosis his performance has decreased. I decided to focus my intervention on the LE since he has decreased strength (2/5) in his legs. The media that I will be using is golf tees. I was sort of stumped as to how I could incorporate this into a therapeutic exercise to build strength. I realized I was onto something when I noticed an old box and golf tees sitting beside me. I decided to put the golf tees halfway into the box and lift my leg and push them with the bottom of my foot all the way into the box as far as I could. Then I realized I could make a pattern out of the golf tees in the box so that it not only requires leg strength, but also coordination and fine motor movements of the leg and foot. For example, you will have to move your leg to where your foot is over the top of each tee in order to push down effectively and g

For this neuro note I chose to watch the movie, “The Theory of Everything.” This movie depicts the famous theoretical physicist Steven Hawking and how he fell in love with his future wife Jane, while being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The actor Eddie Redmayne portrays the bright mind of Hawking and actress Felicity Jones portrays Jane Hawking his wife. As a young child, I always wondered how the famous physicist became wheelchair bound and why he had to have his voice projected from a computer. During this movie, I now know just how bad ALS can progress and affect the human body. This fatal disease damages the motor neurons that extend from the brain and spinal cord, which then cause the motor neurons to eventually die. This affects one’s ability to control voluntary muscles that include walking, talking, eating, and every other daily activity one may perform. After I finished this movie, I wanted to do more research on this strange disease. I found that it is es

For my third neuro-note, I watched a short YouTube video titled, "Sheryl and Myasthenia Gravis: How I Cope!"Myasthenia gravis is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease that affects the skeletal muscles of the body and makes them weak. In the video, Sheryl was just 16 years old when she received her diagnosis of myasthenia gravis (MG). Leading up to her diagnosis, she was experiencing symptoms that included weakness in her legs, arms, hands, and blurred vision in her eyes. Upon receiving her diagnosis, she had to make a few life adjustments that included giving up softball, time at school, and other activities that involved movements for a long period of time. Over time, she started to slowly ease back into softball by going to the batting cages and hitting a few softballs at a time before having to take a rest. She also slowly eased back into going to school once the doctors cleared her and gave her the green light. The reason I chose to write about this topic was because