Skip to main content

OT's and Driving

Today in class we had a guest lecturer who is a driving rehabilitation specialist. He talked to us about the various diagnoses he sees, interventions and adaptations. It was a really cool class! We broke down just a few of the many components of driving and talked about how each diagnosis can alter/impair a persons driving capability. After the lecture we tried various assessments like the MoCA and SIMARD-MD on each other and went to look at the adaptive van he brought.

Listening to this guest speaker today made me realize that OT's can be very beneficial when helping to determine if someone is safe to drive. One intervention you could do would be getting a larger rear view mirror to help someone who had limited range of motion in their neck to be able to see in their blind spots. Another intervention could be going to a muscular dystrophy clinic or primary care office and offering an inservice so the staff could be more informed and know who to refer to.

Overall today was a very interesting class. While we may have just scratched the surface of how OT's can aid a person regain their independence through driving, I feel like we learned a lot.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the OTPF?

The OTPF stands for Occupational Therapy Practice Framework. It is composed of ideas, concepts, and philosophies that guide OT. It addresses domain of OT, the OT process, occupations, and client factors. The domain of OT is the areas in which OT's have a great wealth of knowledge and expertise.  This is what defines the focus of OT. Client factors, performance skills, performance patterns, context, environment, and activity demand are all under the domain of OT practice. Each part of the domain brings a different part of occupational therapy to the table.  The OT process is the actions that a practitioner takes when providing services that are client-centered and focused on engagement in occupation. This is what defines the delivery of OT. Throughout the process, occupation remains central. There is also collaboration with the client throughout the process.  Occupations are ordinary, part of daily living, and are often taken for granted. They can be special when the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Occupation: More than just a job

If you were to ask random people how they would define occupation a vast majority of the responses would be job or employment. While that is one definition of occupation, occupational therapists use another definition. Introduction to Occupational Therapy  by Jane Clifford O'Brien defines occupation as "Activity in which one engages that is meaningful and central to one's identity." Today in class, we learned about decades from the 30's to modern day. We learned about the society, politics, big events, education, healthcare, occupational therapy, work, and leisure. With each presentation it was interesting to see how each topic of the presentation changed, specifically occupations, the OT definition. One occupation that changed throughout the time periods was the role of women. With the start of World War II, women went from keeping the house and children together to working and keeping the house and children together. After soldiers returned home from war, women ...
Post a Comment
Read more

ALS Neuro Note

Alex Coriell was diagnosed with ALS in January 2013 at the age of 29. The video, Alex Coriell's Journey with ALS, walks you through Alex's journey. It shows you just how quickly the disease progressed and how positive Alex remained through it all. Alex went from being a normal 29 year old, father of 3 to a man of low muscle tone needing to eat through a feeding tube. The clip starts with Alex standing up in church telling his friends of his recent diagnosis and as the clip progresses, while his condition continues to get worse Alex remains positive and joyful. This clip showed me the importance of remaining positive, despite how bleak the diagnosis might be. It would have been so much easier for Alex to be an Eyeore, he chose to be a Tigger. It also makes me wonder if Alex's positivity had anything to do with how long he was able to live with ALS? In college, I had to take a class called Sport Psychology, that focused on how psychology plays a role in sports. Based on what...
Post a Comment
Read more