summerOTime

   For our class session on therapeutic use of self I learned new materials as well as confirmed some of what I already knew. I knew that non-verbal communication was very important in the health care field but I found it helpful to refresh my memory on what to do and what not to do because sometimes I can forget about being aware of my body and how my clients are to perceive me. I would like to be a well-rounded and professional therapist so I believe the activity that we did was a great way to prepare me to become that. There were also situations that I never thought about or considered so I found it helpful to be challenged because I will be challenged in the future. It was good practice because therapeutic use of self is so prevalent in OT I found I found the activity to be very valuable.

   After watching the TED x Talk on Disability Rights and Dr. Keisling's presentation on the history of disabilities I had many take aways that I feel like I could carry as I go through my journey as an OT student as well as an OT practitioner. The TED x Talk presented by Judith Heumann was encouraging in that she fought for her rights as someone with disabilities as well as others. Her resilience and advocacy for herself and others displayed courage and resulted in more rights for those with disabilities. The presentation from Dr. Keisling on The History of Disability showed a timeline of the progression of disability rights. The timeline was very similar to the progression of rights we saw in the ERA presentations. They both showed that with open-mindedness and willingness to learn from others and their experiences we can make progression for those with disabilities.    Dr. Keisling's presentation revealed to me that it was not too long ago that institutions were still very