OT Diary

Friday, February 12, 2010

Daily Blog:

 Combining OT and Music Therapy has been one of the most amazing things in my 15 years as an OT. I have watched students transform over the last 2 months as they engage with music and therapy. One mother told us that she had stopped Occupational Therapy and Physical therapy because her child “just was not getting anywhere”. The parent felt speech had reached a plateau as well but noticed some big changes when the Music Therapy began. She described her child as having “come alive”.

 The child was not only gaining more in terms of oral motor strength and communication skills, she was gaining self-confidence in her interaction with others. Now that Occupational Therapy has been added, we are able to address upper body strengthening, fine and gross motor coordination and oral motor skills. The child is able to successfully engage in therapy in a fun and challenging way.

 The amazing thing about working in a session with a music therapist is that we can accomplish so much more together! What would take months to accomplish in individual Occupational Therapy sessions literally happens in a few weeks.

 In the last 3 weeks, one of our students went from speaking in a monotone voice in 1-2 word phrases with little or no eye contact to now making eye contact with 4-5 word phrases requesting to play the song he wants to hear or to play on the swing. His mom told us that he will be at school and will start asking for “Miss Tamela” days before his appointment! Everyone at the school is asking, “Who is Miss Tamela?”

 Seeing how much the students respond to the music and knowing that Tamela and I can make such great differences in the lives of our students and their families is truly rewarding!

Randall Yates. OT

Randall Yates 2/12/2010 4:11:00 PM

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