Post-group Facilitation Reflection #1

This morning, I co-facilitated a group session on the topic “relating to others in a group.” Overall, I feel like the session and activity were successful, and that the members enjoyed it. I even overheard one member say, “I wish we could do this with our whole class!” I think that the introduction of our session was good, but I was nervous. Although I have been with these same people since starting OT school, I still get nervous when talking in front of people. My co-facilitator, Meghan and I, introduced ourselves, let our members introduce themselves, and facilitated a warm-up activity before our actual activity. I feel like I could have outlined the way that the group was going to go more explicitly in this introduction.

I think that Meghan explained the activity well, provided an example of what would happen, and used appropriate timing/materials. We set up in advance, and I felt that we were prepared for the session. The sharing step in the group process was involved in our activity, and Meghan mentioned that members were allowed to pass if they did not want to share during the activity. I think that we encouraged group interaction in our activity, but made the members feel like they did not have to if they did not want to. Every member participated in our activity, and no one chose to pass. In addition, I think that we inspired confidence in our group because we also participated in the activity. We did not simply watch them complete the activity, but we also read statements and explained how we related to them as well.

For me, I think the most important part of our activity was the processing and generalizing part. We allowed the group members to examine their similarities and differences, and we provided questions to get our members to critically think about why relating to others is an important skill. It surprised me how long it would take for each person to read a statement, and share how/why they agree. When Meghan and I were planning it, we thought that our members would go through it quicker. This could be because of the fact that our members already knew each other and were more willing to share their experiences and thoughts with the group. We were presently surprised that all of the members participated and discussed their experiences with each statement!

One part of our group facilitation that I think we could have improved is our summary. We could have reiterated the goals of the activity better, and summarized what was learned in the activity. Some of the strengths that I believe the session had were that our activity was creative, the members had a good time, and I think that the activity was well laid-out. I feel like I could have improved my confidence and explained more in the introduction about the goals for the activity. Overall, I think our group session was successful. Having experienced myself in this leadership position, I feel like I am better equipped for when I have to lead a group session as an OT in the future. Going forward, for the next presentation, I will make sure that I clearly state the outline of the session up front, work on improving my public speaking skills, and close with a summary of the goals and material gained.

Case Study: Pat Summitt, Early Onset Dementia- Alzheimer's Type

     I thoroughly enjoyed doing my case study on Pat Summitt. After attending the University of Tennessee Knoxville for 4 years, I felt like I could relate to the relationship that Pat had with the state of Tennessee. After having 6 miscarriages, she finally had her son, Tyler. She was actually in Pennsylvania when she starting having contractions and about to go into labor with her son Tyler. She refused to deliver her son in any other state than TN. Since Pat was such a tough, passionate woman who led the TN Lady Vols to victory a huge number of times, it was hard to hear about something like this affecting her. Especially, being diagnosed at such an early age with it. I enjoyed discussing her with my group because many of my group members also attended the University of Tennessee. It is hard to imagine how fast it progressed with Pat Summitt, and I wish that I could read her book where she opened up more about this condition.

Neuro Note #5: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Ted Talk: Meet the mom who started the Ice Bucket Challege by Nancy Frates

Frates, M. (2014, October). Meet the mom who started the Ice Bucket Challege. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_frates_why_my_family_started_the_als_ice_bucket_challenge_the_rest_is_history

Since my previous posts were mainly about blogs, I decided to change it up and watch a Ted Talk.  I decided that I wanted to learn more about one of the neurodegenerative disorders. Upon my search, I found a talk about how the ALS ice bucket challenge began. Nancy Frates’ son, Pete, was a 27 year old college baseball player. During the playoff game, a fast ball hit his wrist, and his wrist immediately went limp. After going to a neurologist and learning that he had ALS, not a fracture, break, or sprain, his family was shocked. They learned that ALS had no cure and no treatment, and the family decided that they wanted to raise awareness for ALS and work to find a cure. Pete’s younger brother became his caregiver, and Pete’s mom, Nancy, discussed how she watched her son go from an amazing baseball player to an individual who is completely paralyzed, and now, he can’t swallow. Within 3 weeks of the start of the ALS ice bucket challenge, celebrities were joining in making videos and posting to social media, and within 4 weeks, the ALS ice bucket challenge was global. This brought new trial drugs for ALS and money for research.  When the ALS ice bucket challenge came out, I had no idea what it was, so it definitely helped bring awareness to me. I remember watching countless videos on instagram and facebook. Some things that struck out to me most from this TedTalk were that she said that her son Pete knows his purpose now on earth, and she knows her purpose as well. Some people never find their passion/mission in life, and she alluded to the fact that Pete was lucky that he found his. She also said that we should start each day being positive, proactive, and when her son is still going to the baseball games driving a power wheelchair with eye gazing technology, we need to remember that it was probably challenging for him to put himself out there like that. As an OT, it will be important to remember this as well, and to respect the fact that neurodegenerative conditions like ALS are progressive. While I really cannot imagine what it would be like to have a condition like this, I know that as an OT, we need to help our clients have a voice and advocate for them. I hope that during my lifetime, we see some sort of treatment for ALS. I enjoyed hearing about the condition from a mother/caregiver's perspective, and I am so amazed by Nancy's uplifting, positive spirit about her son's condition. I hope that we as OTs can be the uplifting and positive spirit for our clients.

Muscular Dystrophy Case Study, Chelsea Chandler

Today we learned about muscular dystrophy, and Chelsea presented her case study about Jonah Marlin. He has MD in the most common form and has muscle atrophy and weakness. It occurs mainly in boys with a defective gene in the muscle protein. There is no cure for MD, and Jonah was diagnosed at age 5 years. His brother also has muscular dystrophy. Chelsea told us that males have a greater chance of getting muscular dystrophy because males have XY chromosomes and females have XX chromosomes, so since it affects the X chromosome, females have another X if it was affected. Chelsea said that Jonah was able to walk once but then as the disease progressed, he became weaker and now has to use a power wheelchair. Jonah had PT, OT, and did equine therapy as a preventative measure. Chelsea said that she would recommend a weighted fork, sliding board, and universal cuff for him. Chelsea did a really great job with this presentation!

Huntington's Disease: Makayla's Case Study

     Today in our neuro class, we listened to Makayla's presentation about Trey Gray.  He has Huntington's Disease. Trey was the drummer for Brooks and Dunn and for Reba. It was interesting because he started drumming for Brooks and Dunn in 2002, but he was diagnosed with HD in 2003. He is a musician, producer, father, husband, and national spokesperson. He lives in Nashville and has a fund. With HD, it is genetic, and Trey's sister and did not get it, but he did. His parents had it as well. This is a degenerative disease ad no cure, just medications to slow it down and manage skills. He drinks to cope with the disease, and Makayla's goals were to drum through a song without mistakes. Makayla mentioned that he hates the word "celebrity" because he is just a drummer, so that's probably why there isn't much information released about him. Makayla did a really good job with her presentation and informing us about Huntington's Disease.

Main Takeaway from Foundations OT 425

   I thoroughly enjoyed this class. I learned that I am a perfectionist, and that I sometimes spend a lot of time on the projects. This class was necessary in providing the foundation of what OT is, and I thought that it was taught so well! I feel like all of the activities facilitated my learning, and I enjoyed having a second round on the exams. I can honestly say I learned more in this class than any of my undergraduate classes. I learned that I am a very hands on learner, so I enjoyed the documentation lab, activity analysis, and era presentations the most. The conceptual diagram project was also a good way to tie everything we had learned in the course together. The word cloud below is what I included in my conceptual diagram, and I think it really ties together what OT is and means. I think that I will really miss having this course because it was fun, and I was so interested in learning all of the material.

(wordclouds.com)

Amanda Jones (MG) Group Discussion

     Today in the group discussion, we learned about Myasthenia Gravis. Lauren did her presentation on Amanda Jones, who is a photographer. Lauren was able to connect with Amanda via Facebook and ask her questions. One interesting fact that Lauren mentioned was that Amanda is going through chemo and is being treated by cellcept as well. I never thought that Chemo would have been used to treat something like this. Lauren mentioned that she was 34 years old when she was diagnosed with MG, and she is currently 37 years old. I previously didn't know much about MG, but Lauren told us that it was a neurodegenerative disease where the body attacks its own ACH neuromuscular receptors and affects muscle contractions. Amanda's main symptom was her fatigue, and when she got up to cook, she would feel like she ran a marathon. Amanda is a photographer and mother, and since the diagnosis, she can no longer photograph clients because of the MG symptoms. Lauren also mentioned that there was no cure, but an OT would be helpful in getting adaptive devices for her to continue her photography, help with planning her day so that she has rest times but also can participate socially and with family. Amanda told Lauren that she isn't currently receiving OT.