Knowledge Check #17

Before beginning OT school I got some of my observation hours at a pediatric clinic in Memphis. I really enjoyed my time here, and I felt like I got to learn a lot from my observation. This was one of the first places I got the opportunity to shadow, so at this point my knowledge of OT was minimal. Something happened on one of the days I was shadowing that left me feeling very uncomfortable. The OT practitioner left me alone with a client who was around 8 years old, who was on the autism spectrum. The child wasn’t verbal and didn’t take instruction very well. The OT practitioner told me when he left the room to make sure the child stayed in his seat while he was gone. So of course the first thing the child does when the OT left the room was get out of his seat, and he tried to leave the therapy room we were in. I had no clue what or how to keep him in his seat, and all of this made me fell really uncomfortable. Now that I know the responsibilities of OTs, OTAs, and aids, I have realized that I should have not been put in that situation. At that point I had no training or licsence in the field of occupational therapy, so I was basically an aid if anything at all. I should have direct supervision when dealing with a client, but honestly I was just there for observation, so I shouldn’t have had any responsibilities with the clients.

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