I started this blog as part of an OT-education project in my second to last semester of graduate school, and kept it going, intermittently, for about a year after. Then the real world sort of took over and this blog was shuffled aside. But enough of history. Point is, I'm back to share my thoughts in this one-time, exclusive, resurrection of a blog centered around what is, in my opinion, the greatest profession in the world.
Adaptability is a word that’s been running through my mind more than usual, lately.
Which is saying something, because adaptability is one of the foundations of Occupational Therapy. And, as an OT, I’m constantly considering, noticing, and discovering the adaptability of the environment, the adaptability of the tool or object, the adaptability of the action or task, and the adaptability of the human.
As an OT, on any given day, I might be trying to restore movement and function in my client's arm and hand after a stroke. Or educating and discussing with a client ways to manage their chronic pain, and the science behind it. Or helping an amputee manage and use their new prosthesis. Just to name a very few things OT's do-- and specifically in my setting. But OT's can be found pretty much anywhere and everywhere, with the primary goal of helping people maximize their quality of life by helping them get back to doing the things they want, need, and are expected-- to do.
Honestly, my clients do all the work. While we do employ hands-on treatments, I'm also there to offer feedback, encouragement, and education. I can (and do) offer them tools and strategies, but the ultimate goal is to empower them to find/make their own tools and come up with their own strategies to be successful.
Because human beings are fundamentally creative-- no two people will come up with the exact same method of doing something. But each one will find their OWN method that works best for them.
And along with that, human beings are fundamentally adaptable. Some more than others, of course, but we've all got it in us. I see it all the time, every day. People who have endured setback after setback. Pushed down so many times by various events and circumstances. But they're still here. Bouncing back, while still becoming accustomed to their "new normal". Adapting (see what I did there?).
Let's be real. We are constantly enduring changes in our lives-- day to day, moment to moment. Most of them are small, and their impact is small, and we don't notice them. Still requires some degree of adaptation on our part. And we're so good at these little changes that we adapt without even realizing it.
But then we've got the big stuff. Significant medical diagnosis. Moving to a new state to start a new life.
Living in isolation during a pandemic.
It's a lot. And most of the time, I don't even know how to feel about it. Really, there is so little we do know, except that there are so many unknowns.
But this has helped me-- maybe it'll help someone else...
(Tbh, it's nothing new, really, just another iteration of "go with the flow" or "take it one day at a time" so don't get too excited.)
We're human. We're used to change. We have the creativity and the adaptability to survive in our current situation. It may feel like an endless black hole sometimes, but ultimately, our bodies and brains will find ways to adapt to this temporary "new normal". We'll come up with and embrace alternative ways to connect with others, perform our occupations, and enjoy things. It may not be ideal, and some days will be great and magical, and other days discouraging and lonely, but it's also not forever.
(Some of this is similar to what I tell my patients with movement restrictions after surgery--when they have to use adaptive equipment for getting dressed, etc.)
We all have some pretty strict movement restrictions right now. But with the right adaptive equipment, it's possible to make this situation just a little more doable and survivable.
My current "adaptive equipment" includes Pippa the Pupper, reading, eating twice as many Cheezits as usual, prn Dr. Pepper cream soda, and attempting to learn the ukelele.
What's your adaptive equipment?
Also, please enjoy this photo of me, dressed as my spirit animal, Rex from Toy Story, holding a very common piece of adaptive equipment: the reacher (or grabber, as the majority of our patients call it). Also, please appreciate the pun of O-T-Rex and the fact that a reacher is legitimately something that a T-Rex would benefit from using.
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