Take a Walk

I really enjoyed this article from NPR. I think that with everything we have going on (and I need to know this as well), we forget sometimes to step out and truly enjoy the amazing intricacy of the world around us. I did not grow up hiking, but once or twice a year, my dad would take us children to a small, electricity-free cabin in the woods, where we would go exploring and I loved seeing the different animals, terrain, and flora, and it was one of the best parts of my childhood. As an adult, I get nervous about things like deer ticks and black bears, but I need to put on my bug spray and sunscreen, don my big girl pants and sturdy running shoes (just in case), and head out into the wild!

Nature as a Rejuvenator

How quickly time flies! The challenges of moving (yet again, and, I hope, the last for a while) and learning a new job have been fully occupying my time. I am a person who takes a while to adjust to a new setting, and I know that it's important for me to spend time quiet and not engaged with others. I found myself spending much of my time curled up on my couch watching television, until a revelation -- occupying myself in such a way was filling up my free time, but was not really giving me a chance to truly recuperate.

So I started making a point of taking a time a few days a week to disengage from electronic stimulation - television, phone, and music - and step out (usually onto my screened porch, which looks out out on a stream, trees, and a number of birds, but keeps me bug-free) and listen to the breeze in the trees and the birds singing while just relaxing or reading. I have to admit, making time to do this makes me so much more at peace for days.

I also quickly realized that my life had been missing the comfort that comes from having plants around, so I went out one weekend and POOF:

My apartment felt infinitely more like home. I'm planning on starting on vermicomposting soon for all of my produce scraps, and when I do, I'll let you know.

I've begun working as a pediatric occupational therapist - a longtime dream finally come to fruition. I work at an outpatient clinic and have been starting to incorporate some more natural activities into my treatment sessions to practice what I preach -- it should not be too difficult, I have an endless list of activities! I do have a client that I have made responsible for caring for the few plants currently in the clinic; it has given him the opportunity to be responsible and also to share his unending knowledge of plants, to be successful in ways that he hasn't acheived in other areas of his life. The plants were on their last legs before we stepped in, and they seem to be thriving now!

So, just adding a little bit more nature to your life can make a big difference for yourself or your clients -- buy some plants, have a few therapy sessions outside, or just take some time away from the noise and of modern life (I say as I type on my computer, sorry!).

Winter Wonderland

 I realized, in the midst of chaos that my life has been the past two months that I never actually posted about my article (which was the original basis for this blog) being published! It is available digitally here: Into the Wild: Using Nature in Occupational Therapy Practice. Seeing my name in print was definitely one of my biggest thrills. I hope you enjoy the article as well.

If snow was a person, it would be my arch-nemesis. It started in the days when I would have to daily scrape off my car in the dark so I could drive the icy roads to my high school and worsened when I started at a big university that made it necessary to tramp what seemed like miles from my dorm to my classes through the knee-high piles. I've spent much of the time since then trying to escape from places where snow is a common occurrence. Since I've spent most of the past two months in my home state of Michigan, I've actually been quite fortunate in the snow and cold department. I think that this week (one of my last few here, before the next big adventure), my fortune is about to change, which is alright, since it is winter in the north.

Winter brings a lot of different aspects for different populations. For children, snow is yet another great sensory activity. It also provides options for heavy work with shoveling and rolling large snowballs to make snowpeople. For older adults, there's greater risk of falling with icy sidewalks and injury with trying to shovel snowy sidewalks. Winter can be risky venture for children too: sledding and skiing can definitely venture into "extreme sport" territory. So, as you venture forth in this winter weather, be sure to pay attention to slippery weather and dangerous situations. And take advantage of the time for fun in the cold and try to avoid the temptation to put rocks in the center of your snowballs!

If you're not one to venture out into the cold, there are a number of picture books that cover winter, too. And they're some of my favorites: like Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, The Mitten by Jan Brett, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, and Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. What are some of your favorite winter weather books?

Worm Composting at Airport

When I taught preschool, one of the best things I ever implemented in my classroom was a vermicomposting initiative to make use of the classroom food waste. Ever since I've been QUITE obsessed. And I am apparently not the only one. This article from NPR, One Airport's Trash Is 2 Million Worms' Treasure, discusses how the Charlotte Airport has introduced a massive worm composting project. Some might call it disgusting (that's what my roommates thought when I brought up the idea for our house a few years ago), but it makes me excited to have my own colony of red wiggler worms again!

FALLing Leaves

I have been waiting and waiting to do an autumn post, and now that I finally have a moment to write it, the appropriate time has almost past. However, I shall do it anyway! Fall is normally not my favorite time of year. Having grown up in Michigan, the coming of September meant a quick dive from the glorious heat of summer to the cold and wet misery of winter. Thanks to the long and temperate South Carolina autumn, though, I have a new found love for it!

The one part of fall that I have always loved is the beauty of the changing leaves and the satisfaction of stomping on as many as possible to hear the CRUNCH. And leaves provide such an easy way to incorporate nature with occupational therapy!

You can go outdoors and:
- look for leaves of just one color, shape, size
- use a field guide to help discern which leaves you've found
- rake a big pile of leaves and jump into it
- try to walk on the grass without stepping on any leaves or ONLY stepping on leaves
- try and shake down all the leaves from a small tree.

You can bring a bunch of leaves inside and:
- count how many points are on a leaf
- complete some leaf rubbings or beat a leaf (see the "indoor activities" section for more instructions)
- make patterns based on color or shape
- use a leaf for tracing onto paper
- make leaf people by adding faces with permanent markers
- make a leaf garland
- crumble up leaves and use the pieces to glue a design onto plain paper
- Sort the leaves by color, size, or shape.

Do you have any other ideas? I'd love to hear them!

The Ocean and Sensory Processing Disorder

I had the privilege of spending this summer just a few minutes away from the ocean, and with a blessed 3-day weekend every week (I know, I was a little bit spoiled, but it did make for some long work days), I made a point of going to the beach almost every weekend. As I was sitting there one day, listening to the waves crash and watching the pelicans and seagulls, it hit me how brilliant a place the ocean is for children who are sensory seekers. Consider it: there's the varying textures of wet and dry sand, plus the rolling water; there's the strong taste of sea water; the generally bright sun gives extra visual input; the unceasing sound of the waves and other people playing provides auditory stimulus. The vestibular and proprioceptive senses are challenged by time spent in the moving water and walking on or digging in the unstable sand. So, for those children, the beach is the perfect place to visit, and one of the few places where you can let children who desperately need it run amok (within safety rules, of course).

For children who fall on the other side of things, though, the ocean can be a scary place. The water is constantly moving, the ground is unstable, and there is an unending barrage of light and sound. So what might you do for these kids? I think there are a number of ideas that might make it easier -- and if you have any further suggestions, please comment below! I would love to hear them. If the child is sensitive to the brightness, try visiting on an overcast day or give them a pair of sunglasses (the latter, of course, might result in other sensory challenges). If they have a hard time negotiating different surfaces, try to attain a place in hard packed sand. If they are bothered by the moving water, consider a beach where when the tide recedes there is a shallow pool left behind. If they are bothered by sand being stuck to them, provide them with a chair so that they are less likely to end up with pants full of sand and bring along a watering can to make it easy to fill up with sea water and rinse off. Water shoes can also be a way to help keep sand from creeping between their toes. Make sure their bathing suit fits snugly, but not too snugly, to prevent chaffing and irritation.

Children who are have sensory defensiveness might also benefit from a social story that talks about some of the things they might see and feel, in order to give them a chance to prepare. It would even be better to add in some textures, like sandpaper to represent the feel of sand and a (well-sealed) bag of gel or paint to approximate the feeling of water. For these children, it is important to not push their limits too far. Give them the chance to accustom themselves to this new and different location, to touch the sand with a shovel before digging in with their fingers or to wade with just their toes in the water before going in up to their tummies. It may be best to first try the beach on a day that is less busy, to prevent them from becoming overwhelmed by a crowd as well. And for a first trip, a short time might be all that they can handle -- next time they will better understand what to expect and might be able to play longer!

The Hunger Games and OT

 It has been a while since I've posted, which has been filled with the end of school, a trip of epic proportions (18 states in 20 days), moving to a new city, and finally starting my first clinical rotation at MUSC in Charleston, SC!

I have a significant obsession with The Hunger Games. And for some reason it became the first thing I would read between semesters, so I've read the series four times now. I've been joking about how to make the Hunger Games themselves into an occupational therapy intervention, and while I haven't solved that yet (any ideas, friends?), in this last reading of it I did make a connection between the characters + the importance of occupations + nature, which I would like to share with you all.

If you have never read the books and don't like to know anything at all about the story prior to doing so, there are some SMALL SPOILERS ahead, from book three.

You were warned.

In Mockingjay, Katniss finds herself living underground, recovering from a myriad of psychosocial and physical problems. What's worse, District 13, where she is currently residing, is structured so heavily that residents only have a half hour of free time a day, not nearly enough to engage in play and leisure activities that are critical for emotional, mental, and physical well-being. Now, Katniss, despite being so young knows herself well and recognizes that the best way for her to be able to recover is by spending time outside, partially for hunting. When she gets the opportunity, she makes that part of her deal with the administration. What's more, she convinces them that allowing her sister's cat to remain with them is also necessary. (And when everyone is stuck underground, playing with the cat relieves the tension for everyone.)

What's rather funny is that while I was considering composing this post, I came across this interesting article from NPR entitled To Rehabilitate Young Vets, Go Hunting, which is about having injured vets hunting in the woods and the impact that it has on those soldiers.

Sound familiar?