Final Blog

I was inspired by many things to create this project, but my main inspiration was definitely my two uncles. Both of my uncles were born with brain damage, resulting in an Autism diagnosis and brain capacities of early childhood. One is more high-functioning than the other, so I have been exposed to the different severities and the resources that are needed to thrive. I have always been amazed at their drive and perseverance, and how they never let their disabilities affect them. Similarly, I have been very involved in organizations such as Buddy Up, Empower Sports, and ACEing Autism. All of these programs focus on sports and exercise for kids and adults with special needs. Buddy Up and ACEing Autism are both programs that teach tennis, and I have been working with them since middle school. A common theme between all of these programs is their determination and love for sports. They all go out there and give 110 percent, and even if they are struggling, they never gave up and that was something that always amazed me and stuck with me. I have known that I have wanted to go into the therapy world for a while now, but I was back and forth between physical therapy and occupational therapy. 

I designed this project to help me experience working in both PT and OT and get a feel for what I wanted to do. I also wanted to get experience working on the therapy side of special needs since I had never really seen or worked in that field before. I worked with many different therapists throughout my time here and they always made sure to explain the patients and their goals beforehand, explain why we were doing certain activities, and answer any questions I had. While I made sure not to overstep during the sessions, I always made sure to be engaged and participate when appropriate. Many of the patients look up to us and find it comforting when we do it with them rather than just watching. Along with that, I helped set up lots of the activities such as obstacle courses and scavenger hunts. On top of learning about what I wanted to do, I also wanted to learn more about what comes with working with special needs children, and the specific activities the therapists do. I ultimately just wanted to see if I could see myself in their spot 6 or 7 years from now. I have learned more than I ever thought I would have in these past 3 weeks, and I am very grateful for the experience. I knew how much patience was needed, but I had never thought of myself as a patient person. Over these weeks, I have learned that I do have the patience to be able to go into this field. Everything takes a bit longer with these patients and progress may not be seen immediately, or it may be seen in little spurts, but I learned you just need to trust the process and that the smallest improvements still mean progress. I also learned that no matter how much you prepare for the session and plan things out, most of the time it doesn't go according to the plans. Kids have their own plans and want to do their own activities, and sometimes you just have to let them do what they want. There is a specific patient who is non-verbal and highly autistic, and during his session, he was very emotional and had 0 interest in doing anything. The only thing that calmed him down was lying on one of the swings. While this session wasn't necessarily therapeutic, we have to understand that he is 4 years old and he is going to have his moments and we have to be ok with that. If we were to force him off the swing into doing therapy, still no progress would be made because he would be fighting and resisting it the whole time, and that is not fun for anyone. We would rather the patient not have a negative connotation toward the therapists and the facility, and by just letting him chill out and swing for his session, he still trusts all of us.

 I am really happy with how my project turned out and what I was able to accomplish, but if I were to change something, I would want to spend more time in PT. Going into this project, I had no idea whether I would like PT or OT better, but after just spending 1 session in each one, I knew PT was for me, and that sense only strengthened throughout the weeks. OT is more prevalent here than PT, so I was not always able to be with PT, but I definitely would have loved to spend even more time in PT. Along with that, I think it would have been helpful to see some more complex kids and disabilities. Many of the kids with very complex situations stay within hospital systems (Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, etc), but at Galvin, I primarily worked with Autism, low muscle tone, behaviorally challenged, and developmentally delayed patients. 

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I think the center could benefit from a toy drive. I do not think it would be a good place for a service day simply because it would be very overwhelming for the patients to have so many unfamiliar faces and the space is not the largest. That being said, a toy drive would be an easy way to give back because toys and activities play a huge part in the therapies. The toys do not have to be brand new, it would be as simple as toys that families simply just don't use or need anymore.

 I think the biggest takeaway I had was that physical therapy is definitely the route I want to pursue. This ultimately answered my essential question, but after spending 3 weeks with both, I can confidently make that decision without any regrets. I have been bouncing between PT and OT for years, so having a decision that I feel very confident in is very soothing as I have declared a major in Kinesiology and will further pursue grad school after that. 

As far as advice goes, I think the most important thing is to make sure you are working with/on something you truly enjoy. You have to step back and realize this is something you are going to be doing for 3 straight weeks and several hours a day, and the last thing you want is to be miserable and not enjoy what you are doing. Not only did I enjoy what I was doing, I enjoyed the people I did it with. All of the therapists, patients, and families were so welcoming and understanding, and that took a lot of pressure off of me.

 Lastly, I would like to thank Galvin Therapy Center for having me these past 3 weeks, and all of the different therapists that took me under their wings. I know you guys have such a hectic workday already and I'm sure having a student observer does not make it any easier, but I am truly grateful for everything I was taught and got to experience. I would also like to thank the patients and their families for letting me sit in and observe their sessions, you did not have to do that but you welcomed me with open arms. I will miss all of the patients and therapists I got to work with, and I hope to visit again soon!