PowerUp Occupational Therapy Consulting

PowerUP Questions—Asking and Inviting others to ask! When we ask questions we gain knowledge!

PowerUp Purpose! Everything we do in our practice from evaluation to intervention and outcome measurement should serve a clear purpose to move the client toward their goals. If they don’t understand your vision and purpose in your treatment methods, it is the OTPs job to help them understand.

PowerUP Occupation! We can’t talk about occupational therapy without talking about occupation & No—it isn’t your JOB.

It is allll the things you need and want to do & is the heart of OT practice.

PowerUp No! That might sound counterproductive, but in order to support Autonomy, we have to stand against compliance driven intervention models. Clients have a right to say, “No!” and No is a complete sentence. We can’t be strengths based if we don’t respect and support client use of, “No.”

PowerUp Meaningful Connections and Meaningful Occupational Engagement! Clients do best when therapy is meaningful so take the time to explain Why you are recommending an activity or exercise. How does it relate to what is meaningful to the client??

PowerUp Listening to PowerUp learning! When we listen to our clients we can learn so much about their strengths, interests, and what is meaningful. Occupational Therapy asks not what is the matter with you, but what matters TO you. And that makes the difference!

PowerUp Kids’ Rights! Strengths Based Practice Models aren’t just for adults. Children and Youth have rights too & following their lead can make for a meaningful engaging session. Partnering with a child to develop goals and monitor outcomes adds meaning and can lead to more progress.

PowerUp Justice! Occupational Justice! Occupational Therapy Practitioners have a commitment to ensure individuals have access to meaningful activities. Every one should be able to do what the NEED and WANT to do! To support PoweringUp Justice we have to prioritize Access and inclusion across all settings and contexts. We are the advocates for inclusion!

PowerUp Interdependence! Independence and self reliance above all are a Western Americanized ideal. Many other cultures recognize the need for community and connections-INTERdependence. In strengths based models, OTPs can shift their thinking to promoting and developing interdependence for their clients so they know how to self advocate and direct their own care & supports as needed. There is no shame in asking for help.

PowerUp how we use our Hands! Therapeutic use of hands is KEY to OT Practice. Supporting client use of their own bodies sometimes means providing prompts through our own.

“Man, through the use of his hands, as they are energized by mind and will, can influence the state of his own health.” - Mary Reilly

PowerUp Goal planning to Goal Getting! Don’t just RUMBA and SMART get your clients engaged and ready to GET their Goals! Make sure they UNDERSTAND and are ALL in on the path. If the Goal doesn’t matter to them—they will never care if they attain it. So MAKE Goals Matter!!

PowerUp Functional Finances! Function is a buzz word in OT practice! We OT Practioners often pride ourselves on being function experts—but what about Finances?? I am no financial wizard—and as an OTP no one expects us to be, but for independent living, clients MUST have a plan for financial management and OTPs are the best folks to help them identify barriers and develop strategies to manage their finances as a key iADL.
Can’t physically get to the bank—welcome to online banking—-
OTPs are function experts—but putting plans to action is occupational engagement!

PowerUp Equity by EMPOWERING the individuals we serve! Building up the clients access to decision making and supports builds their voice at the table. When individuals are given equitable access, they grow and are given more opportunities for occupational engagement and meaningful participation increasing quality of Life. That is the role of the OTP.

PowerUp Data Driven Decisions!
Data say what???? Data collection isn’t something OTPs think a lot about but collecting data can help us uncover patterns and develop solutions. It can also help us track what is working and what needs to change. We aren’t with our clients 24/7 so we have to rely on them to share their experiences and track progress and changes over time. Strengths based approach to data driven decision making brings the client as well as other team members into the data collection & analysis process. Together collect and use data to make decisions about next steps and recommendations—even discharge/graduation!

PowerUp Collaboration! C is for Client Centered Collaboration!
Ditch outdated patient/provider language and look toward developing a partnership approach to person centered practice models…the term Client evokes a more equitable relationship between provider and service recipient and creates an opportunity for collaboration and partnership that is different than the traditional giver and receiver of care approach. Entering into client collaboration means relinquishing the power of expert and prescriber to a more humbling place of learner and collaborator. The client has much to teach about what is meaningful to them and as an OTP it is our job to listen, problem solve with them and empower them to move toward identified goals.

PowerUp your Belief!
I could have said Beneficence—our ethical value to provide BENEFIT to our clients through our services, but sometimes we have to go back to Basics and simply BELIEVE in our clients and ourselves that we can make a difference & they can do what they say that want & need to do and we can help them. A little Belief can go a long way. Ted Lasso taught us that and Kristie Patten reminded us of it in her 2022 Slagle Lecture.

Continuing our PowerUp Knowledge OT month journey with Strengths Based Practice I present the ABC’s of OT strengths based edition….PowerUp your thinking for your practice!

April 1st! It is the start of OT Month and the 2nd Anniversary of PowerUp Occupational Therapy Consulting! This started this company in 2022 with the mission to PowerUp knowledge of OT and support OTPs looking to learn more about strengths based Tech informed Models…so let’s kick off this month right with more engagement on my socials pages…

Image Description: purple gradient background with words: OT month in neon underneath:
PowerUp Your Knowledge
What does Strengths Based Practice/Support Mean to you?
Watch here to PowerUp your understanding of strengths based OT.
Right side image of brown haired woman with sunglasses wearing a black dress with white stars.

PowerUp Understanding! Interoceptive Awareness is a Key component for building connection & regulation.

I am always learning from what Kelly shares with us!

This month, I want to discuss the incredible impact that the Interoception Curriculum can have for clients with alexithymia. As an occupational therapist and advocate for approaches that see beyond the surface and get at the root cause, I’m thrilled to share how interoception can be a game-changer for clients navigating the complex landscape of alexithymia!

Read more on the blog: https://www.kelly-mahler.com/resources/blog/embracing-interoception-how-to-actually-nurture-self-understanding-in-alexithymia/

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October among other things is Speech and Language month! So…let’s power up our understanding of language processing!!

PowerUp your Classroom Post 2: Flexible Seating

What is the first thing you think of when you hear flexible seating???

I see classrooms with Options—
Bean Bags
Wiggle Seats
T-Stools
Scoop chairs
Standing desks
Rockers
Lap Desks
Balance Balls
Floor cushions

There are so many alternatives to traditional desk and chair and table seating options. My favorite times at school were when we could roam and find our own spots to complete our work—Desks can be so condoning and no one wants to sit alll day—-it isn’t healthy & for some people their brains don’t work as well when they are sitting still. So—provide options.

But for younger students they may not be ready to explore new types of seating or know what works for them. I really appreciated this blog post by a 1st grade teacher who used a rotating system so everyone could try the ball seats.

I wonder if she had the students report how it felt sitting in each type of seating. Did they feel more alert? More focused? Did their body get tired trying to stay upright?

While many in education circles recognize the value of choice for seating and are beginning to understand sensory strategies and movement—as an OT I am always conscious of the task demands of sitting in a chair or on a ball—how muscle and sensory activation and that feedback can support or inhibit engagement in occupations(in the classroom—that is academics 😊)

I recommend if you do try flexible seating create a check-in for your students to see how they feel after using different seating options—you could make it a lesson—graphing their data over a few weeks or writing a persuasive essay about why their preferred seating option is best.

Will You try Flexible seating this year in your classroom??

Should You Try Flexible Seating? Why I Think It Worked for Me - I Love 1st Grade Flexible seating is just that – FLEXIBLE! It has so many benefits for children. A few years ago, I added flexible seating options in my classroom but the students still sat at tables, in chairs. Two years ago, I made a VIP {Very Important People} table with balance balls. My students were super mo...

Dear Teachers as you head back to school and start decorating your classrooms, consider swapping out your listening ears posters for more inclusive posters showing all the ways students can learn—even if their body is moving or they need more support.

Autism Level UP has a lot of great resources including Bumper! Students can make their own needs chart using the printables they have on their website!

link to download Bumper and all of their accompanying materials -https://cdn.sanity.io/files/p6bm7moz/production/99d189ab413e0ccab0329aaa52658ad68b2f7875.pdf

Bumper and their accompanying tools will always be free. We will pop the 🔗 in the comments again. We're amped that they generated so much interest yesterday.

A few have asked about poster size Bumper to put in up a classroom. You have options -

1) You can always print Bumper to larger scale on your own printer. Will only cost you your ink and paper (and a tiny bit of time).
2) We do have really nice printed versions available for sale, too. If you are interested in those, we will put the link to order those below, too.
❤️💛

Image description: Meet Bumper: the whole body learner graphic describing how Bumper actively learns in the environment using all parts of their body. The question - what do you look like when you are learning is at the bottom

OT Month ended. 😞 But May is Mental Health Month! OT Practitioners are Mental Health Providers and as one, I am proud to serve on our local Trauma Informed Community Network. To kick off May, Virginia highlights Resilience Week. This year the focus is on Resetting, Reconnecting, and Recharging and I will be trying to start the month out with those three actions in mind…

But the concept of Resilience or the “art of bouncing back” can be a tricky topic. In some settings—Resilience is used as a way to negate the impact of trauma…Have you heard the phrase…”Kids are resilient…they will bounce back..”? Sometimes when we say this we are minimizing the impact an event can have on an individual, group or population. But resilience in it self is not a bad word. We can and should celebrate building resilience within inviduals, groups and populations with a lens of acknowledgement to past and current traumas and lived experiences.

As I was travelling to AOTA INSPIRE | 2023 Annual Conference & Expo…I was struck by the difference between these two Airport bathrooms.

In DC at Reagan International I was initially excited to see the words “PowerUp” over a charging wall & then noticed the “caregiver restroom” which is far more inclusive than family restroom as not all caregivers are family….but then when I opened the door I was disappointed to see a standard height toilet and a standard child changing table rather than something that could support an adult who may be dependent in toileting.

Then in Kansas City at the NEW airport as those in the now call it. I was mesmerized by the signage and signals provided to support cognitive access 🚽is a much clearer sign than the bodies we typically see to represent restrooms. The lights are green when stalls are open and turn red when the stall is locked. A display outside the room shows available number of stalls in each area to help busy travelers gauge wait time. I did not get to review the inside for accessibility with changing stations, etc-due to time constraints this morning—but hope they took common universal design into comsideration.

In PoweringUp accessibility we should think not oonly about physical needs, but also cognitive, and sensory needs. What interesting accessibility features have you seen in public restrooms?

OT Month Car Chat the end of the day.

Powering Up Possibility #1: Presume Competence

The first key to “Bringing Possibility to Life,” the theme of this year’s Occupational Therapy month is acknowledging that we as Occupational Therapy Practitioners do not have all the answers. We are not the experts on an individual’s lived experience, but rather a partner on a problem solving journey.

We are but one piece of a puzzle. The same is true for other providers and organizations serving and supporting people with disabilities across the lifespan. Society as a whole has a tendency to view Individuals with Disabilities as in need of assistance therefore less capable or less competent as a result of their disability. In order to PowerUp Possibility, we must first Presume Competence.

I stumbled across a great three part series on presuming competence on Disability is Natural. It was authored by a parent of a child with cerebral palsy in 2007, but the points she makes are still very evident today. We must move forward as a society and especially for those of us that work with the disability services systems—both the medical and social models to start from a presumption of competence rather than requiring the person with a disability prove their competence to us.

Today on this first day of April—I invite you to PowerUp your understanding of presumption of competence and identify how you can start powering up.

https://www.disabilityisnatural.com/presume-comp-1.html

Presume Competence Disability is Natural features Kathie Snow's People First Language, Revolutionary Common Sense, New Ways of Thinking, and One-of-a-Kind Products to Generate Positive, Powerful Change for Children with Disabilities and Adults with Disabilities!

It is April which means OT Month!
It is Autism Acceptance Month!

It is also the anniversary of me starting this business. I can’t believe it has been one year already. I have learned a lot this first year & am still learning….but watch out world, because that means I am refining what I have to offer and building for what is to come. April will be an amazing month.

Stay tuned for the PowerUp Possibility series that will include posts about how to PowerUp what is possible & the Beauty of the Occupational Therapy Profession.

Image Description: purple badge with yellow lettering Occupational Therapy red heard then in white the words Bringing Possibilities to Life inset in a green circular ring.

This is powering up access & inclusion! I can’t wait to see it more mainstream!!

As a Deaf person, ASL is my first language. As a kid, when I started reading, there were many words I didn't know the meaning of or how to sign. I used a dictionary calculator from the 1990's to find the meaning. There was one problem, the dictionary calculator didn't show me how to sign the word I was searching for. I asked my hearing parents how to sign it. Sometimes, my parents didn't know what the sign was either because they were learning ASL as their second language. I felt frustrated and confused why there wasn't an easier way.

Now there are pop-up dictionary's everywhere provided in different languages. However, ASL is not an option on many programs. That's why I decided to create a Chrome extension ASL pop-up dictionary to increase accessibility for Deaf children and help people learn ASL. It's called Signspaces.

I've been working on this project for almost a year. Finally, it's here and ready to use. I'm so excited to see my vision for my start-up company come to fruition.

This simple Chrome extension will translate English words on the web into ASL videos. Just click the highlighted words you want to learn, and Signspaces will provide a pop-up video of the sign as well as the meaning of the word, and examples of sentences using that word.

Learning ASL is literally as easy as clicking and watching all in one place. Try Signspaces for yourself and start to learn ASL!

signspaces.com

As an occupational therapist that works with people needing access to technology of all ages and abilities, I spend a lot of time thinking about the digital divide…typically I see divides related to age, socio-economic status, geographic location, and disability. but I was shocked to see that the theme for international women’s day focuses on the digital divide related to Gender! According to the attached paper 1.1 billion women do not have access to mobile internet which reinforces the gender disparity in economic status. I was pleased to see that the intersectionality included disability in their list of co-existing barriers to access. Check out the link to see what is being done in the US.

From WHO: DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality,” highlights the role of innovative technology in promoting gender equality and meeting the health and developmental needs of women and girls.

Closing the Gender Digital Divide | Basic Page | U.S. Agency for International Development As digital technology is accelerating opportunities across the world, women are being left behind.