Think about your medical externship(s) and the personnel with whom you interacted while you were there. Besides your supervisor, from which profession do you feel you learned the most and why (and how)? What if anything did you learn about our profession while you were there and most important, what did you learn about yourself? If you have not yet completed your medical externship, talk about the types of professions with whom you have worked in other speech-language pathology settings.
I was able to do my first placement in an Outpatient Rehab facility that served both adults and pediatrics. Since it was a small facility the PT, OT, PTA, and speech pathologist all shared an office. This was especially helpful for patients that received multiple disciplines of therapy. The office also connected to the audiologists office which was helpful. The profession in which I feel that I learned the most was from the occupational therapist. The speech pathologist and occupational therapist worked hand in hand to treat patients.
From the occupational therapist I was able to learn many sensory techniques that I found helpful for stimulating my clients. I was able to observe the occupational therapist on several occasions Many times I got to see the brushing technique used on many of our children with autism. It was amazing to watch how well they formed a bond with the OT. It was also helping for many of our children with ADHD who needed some calming time. Another technique I enjoyed watching was the use of the swing. Many of patients were able to "come to life" when they had a chance to swing before a session started. I often used the swing to offer therapy to many of my very young non-verbal children. Many times they would verbalize much more in the swing than in a Rifton chair. I also enjoyed watching the OT work with children on ADL ( active daily living) skills such as fastening their pants or zipping their jacket.
I learned that occupational therapy would be my second choice of career after speech pathology. I learned so much and greatly enjoyed the activities that I was able to observe while she was working with pediatric patients. I also learned how language therapy can be used in every activity of life
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