Disabilities Awareness Merit Badge

Introduction Thank you for having me. My name is ______________ I am an occupational therapist. Raise your hand if you heard of an occupational therapist before

Introduction Tonight, I am first going to first talk about occupational therapy, and then help you complete a requirement for the Disabilities Awareness Merit Badge.

What’s Occupational Therapy? Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants help people of all ages do the things they want and need to do through the use of everyday activities (occupations) Occupational therapy practitioners ask, "What matters to you?" not, "What's the matter with you?"

What’s Occupational Therapy? [Share an example of what you did for one client]

What’s unique about Occupational Therapy? -whole person -broad knowledge base (science, anatomy, technology, etc) -use everyday activities therapeutically to achieve goals that are meaningful and relevant to a person

[Make a clear transition to disabilities]

Activity Write down 5 of the most important activities you typically do Now cross off 2. Now cross off 1 more.

Disabilities Disability is the loss or limitation to activities Disability can be caused by many factors

Defining Disability So disability can result from a number of barriers, including barriers in the environment. A person in a wheelchair wants to use the city bus to go the grocery store. Buses in his city are not wheelchair accessible, so he cannot go. The bus is the problem, not the person. The bus needs to be redesigned. Who can think of another example?

We will start tonight with requirement 7: Name five professions that provide services to people with disabilities. Pick one and find out the education, training, and experience required. Discuss what you learn with your counselor.

Requirement 7 What profession have we been talking about tonight? Right. What do O.T.s do again? We do not aim to “fix” or “cure” a disability, but provide services that help a person live life to its fullest.

Requirement 7 O.T.s and O.T.A.s often work on a team of professionals with a person with disabilities. Other professionals often include social workers, physical therapists, speech therapists, physicians, and psychologists What do physical therapists do?

Requirement 7 Education: The degree you need today to be an occupational therapist is a Master’s Degree. That’s two years in addition to any Bachelor’s Degree. The degree you need to be an occupational therapy assistant is an Associate’s Degree.

Requirement 7 Training: As part of the education, hands-on fieldworks are required.

Requirement 7 What can you do now to prepare for a career in occupational therapy? -Always ask BEFORE helping someone -Volunteer with the Special Olympics, a hippotherapy program, or another organization helping people with disabilities -How can your Eagle Scout Project help people with disabilities?

Questions? Comments?

Our Plan Thank you for listening tonight. We have two more presentations. Next week, I have a surprise activity planned.

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