Yesterday I started the University of St. Augustine's OT Mock Clinic, that meets Wednesday morning 9 to 11 a.m. through February 3. St. Augustine's is located in Circle C Ranch in far South Austin just off La Crosse after Slaughter. I have been attending the free PT clinics for nearly 3 years, but this is the 1st occupational therapy session organized by Dr. Rebecca Estes.
There was much assessment and many questions to answer, so I had to be on my toes and think fast. The two therapists, Brooke and Christina, were all business and made me feel right at home. I guess it's because I'm an old hand at working with students by now. They started off by asking stuff like did I live alone, did I have many steps in my house which went on for about 15 minutes, and then they administered the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure which is a way to establish a connection between therapist and client so that the therapist has an idea of what goes on in the life of the client. It was a pretty interesting assessment that determined if and how much I use my affected arm and hand in daily use in a variety of instances such as community, social, and hobbies, to name a few.
Next, the two assessed the range of motion in my arms, from big movements like lifting my hands over my head, to the smaller ones such as turning my palms up and back again. My spasticity limited my right arm's participation. Then they tested my sensation on the skin which when combined with my lack of proprioception and my confusion about minutia, and I think I didn't do so well on that part. She touched me, and I got confused about where the front of my arm was and the back of it. Sometimes I felt her pressure on 2 places at once.
The rest of the time was spent doing sit to stands, standing in place with my feet close together then farther apart. And I showed my therapists and Dr. Estes my AFO and my WalkAide. They had all kinds of questions about those 2 things and I found out that there was another man at the clinic who also had a WalkAide. Then I opened the door by turning the handle with my right hand. But this is already stuff that I could do, not any real breakthroughs such as reaching across the table, breaking through my spasticity, to hand somebody an item that they needed. Also, I would like to pick up a cup by its handle without spilling the contents and set it back on its saucer. But at least I'm a lot more conscious of using my right hand more and not neglecting it because these past two and half years, I have failed to utilize my right arm and hand to is full potential, and I believe it's the reason for my balance issues. Right now it's dead weight, just hanging there, where as if I engage it more and train it to do what it was meant to do, my hand and arm would be a lot happier.
My Homework (using my right hand exclusively)
1. Turn on a light switch.
2. Turn on a faucet.
3. Open the door by twisting a knob.
4. Pick up a glass of water.
5. Wash and dry hands.
I can hardly wait to go back to St. Augustine's next week. I have included a video of me mashing beans for chalupas with my right hand.
There was much assessment and many questions to answer, so I had to be on my toes and think fast. The two therapists, Brooke and Christina, were all business and made me feel right at home. I guess it's because I'm an old hand at working with students by now. They started off by asking stuff like did I live alone, did I have many steps in my house which went on for about 15 minutes, and then they administered the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure which is a way to establish a connection between therapist and client so that the therapist has an idea of what goes on in the life of the client. It was a pretty interesting assessment that determined if and how much I use my affected arm and hand in daily use in a variety of instances such as community, social, and hobbies, to name a few.
Next, the two assessed the range of motion in my arms, from big movements like lifting my hands over my head, to the smaller ones such as turning my palms up and back again. My spasticity limited my right arm's participation. Then they tested my sensation on the skin which when combined with my lack of proprioception and my confusion about minutia, and I think I didn't do so well on that part. She touched me, and I got confused about where the front of my arm was and the back of it. Sometimes I felt her pressure on 2 places at once.
The rest of the time was spent doing sit to stands, standing in place with my feet close together then farther apart. And I showed my therapists and Dr. Estes my AFO and my WalkAide. They had all kinds of questions about those 2 things and I found out that there was another man at the clinic who also had a WalkAide. Then I opened the door by turning the handle with my right hand. But this is already stuff that I could do, not any real breakthroughs such as reaching across the table, breaking through my spasticity, to hand somebody an item that they needed. Also, I would like to pick up a cup by its handle without spilling the contents and set it back on its saucer. But at least I'm a lot more conscious of using my right hand more and not neglecting it because these past two and half years, I have failed to utilize my right arm and hand to is full potential, and I believe it's the reason for my balance issues. Right now it's dead weight, just hanging there, where as if I engage it more and train it to do what it was meant to do, my hand and arm would be a lot happier.
My Homework (using my right hand exclusively)
1. Turn on a light switch.
2. Turn on a faucet.
3. Open the door by twisting a knob.
4. Pick up a glass of water.
5. Wash and dry hands.
I can hardly wait to go back to St. Augustine's next week. I have included a video of me mashing beans for chalupas with my right hand.
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