Why I Want To Be An Occupational Therapist

I have always known that I wanted to be an Occupational Therapist. When I was younger, I attended Occupational Therapy (OT) myself in order to correct my pencil grip. The idea was to use fun activities to correct the way in which I use my pencil in order to improve my handwriting. I remember being so excited to go to OT and it was almost like I did not realise that these activities were designed specifically to address my problem, and would actually help me in the long run. When I pictured myself as an Occupational Therapist, I saw myself playing games with children in a big colourful room filled with toys and a variety of fun activities. Since being accepted to study Occupational Therapy this year, my future looks vastly different to how I
Much of the purpose of OT is focused on the definition of the term occupation. (Nelson, 1996) Occupations are not just a job but are ‘the everyday activities that people do as individuals, in families and with communities to occupy time and bring meaning and purpose to life. Occupations include things people need to, want to and are expected to do.’ (WFOT, 2012). Occupational Therapy is the profession that is uniquely dedicated to helping people help themselves through their own efforts. They have the potential to be therapeutic and can also help restore health and function (Murnane, 2013). Looking back at my own experience of occupational therapy, I can understand that through actively doing things that were meaningful to me, I was able to correct my pencil grip and therefore be able to write correctly throughout my life. My new understanding of OT has been enhanced by two events that have occurred this year. The first being the opportunity to watch my grandmother recover from a foot operation and the second being the opportunity to visit Elma Park Pre-Primary School to observe nursery school children at
She suffers from Peripheral Neuropathy which is a term used to describe damage to nerves of the peripheral nervous system which leads to symptoms such as pain, numbness, tingling and burning in her hands and feet (Kenneth, 2012). Due to the fact that she has very little sensation in her feet, she developed wounds that would not heal, which led to infection in the bone, and she had to undergo surgery to amputate two of her toes and close the wounds. After her surgery, she was bedbound, and in order to recover was unable to walk for a long period of time. Even after she was allowed to walk, she had to restrict her movement to allow full healing of her feet. My grandmother had to spend a vast amount of time at home and this prevented her from being the active person she is. My new understanding of the importance of occupation allowed me to see that she was not activities healthy. This means that she was unable to engage in all areas of occupation properly and therefore there was no balance. Occupational Therapy focuses on engaging in various kinds of everyday life activities that contribute to a person’s health and well-being (AOTA, 2008). In order to be considered activities