I had the opportunity to work with On the Other Hand Therapy as a pediatric occupational therapy intern in a preschool motor group. I was also on the leadership corps during this project as well. This was such a unique experience to be a part of because it was completely hands-on, an opportunity rarely seen in OT observations. Laura Clubok, the mentor for this project, provided us all with independent learning between training sessions where I was able to learn information about pediatric OT I would not have until entering a graduate program. Integrating this information into the motor group activities helped me get a grasp on what developmental skill was being targeted. This information was also very helpful in understanding the purpose of activities in other shadowing rotations outside of pediatrics.
Prior to the motor group beginning, I worked with Laura and the leadership corps to plan training sessions for the other interns. We held three training sessions where we went over basic components of pediatric OT and how to successfully work with children. We also discussed de-escalation techniques, sensory support techniques, and cultural competency for the preschool which was predominantly Orthodox Jewish. The third training session we set-up the activities that would be used during motor group and presented cool-down activity ideas.
The motor group ran for 10 weeks, with new activities added to each station every other week. The motor group was set up with 3 children and 3 interns in each group. There were two sessions, beginning with 3-4 year-olds and ending with 4-5 year-olds. The stations included fine motor (pincer and palmar grasp activities), vestibular stimulator (upside-down bowling, balance boards, spin discs) and gross motor (tunnel, skipping,scooter boards). The stations were modified for each group to match their development level.
Working on the leadership corps allowed me to be behind the scenes for the planning of the motor group. Once the motor group began, I was responsible for co-leading three sessions and entering data collected five times. When preparing for co-leading, I would have a meeting with Laura at the end of the week to discuss what we thought went well and what needed to be changed. This often consisted of switching groups of children and changing some stations.
Then we would go through the lesson plans for the next week and change instructions if needed and reformat to make the instructions as simple and accessible for our interns to read. I would then also create an equipment list for the week and help Laura create the data questions and format the data sheet. I would help Laura explain the stations to the other interns before the children arrived and do demonstrations of the activities. On data capture weeks, I would collect the data sheets the other interns used during the motor group and enter the information into a spreadsheet for each child. The questions included specific activities we worked on that week, for example “Can keep head up during popcorn: Yes/No), and if the child was right or left handed, as well as a section for what they struggled with or did well that week. Each member of the leadership corps also created a flyer for parents on one thing they learned, mine was types of vestibular stimulation and their importance in development.
Overall, this was an amazing experience to connect with children and learn about pediatric OT. I had an exceptional mentor and learned so much! I would highly recommend this experience for those interested in OT.
-Becky Loughran