One really interesting podcast I listened to over the break was the Nature-Based Therapy podcast with guest speaker, Amy Seymore. I had never heard of this type of therapy before, but after listening, I learned that nature-based therapy is the same thing as regular occupational therapy, just in a natural, outdoor environment. Doing therapy outside, especially for kids, gives them that freedom to let their imaginations run wild. A trapeze bar can equal a tree branch or stepping stones in an OT gym can actually be real stepping stones across a river. Being able to do therapy outside also accounts for real-life sensory components that are missing inside of a clinic such as the sun in their eyes or the sounds of birds chirping and water flowing. One of the main points that I learned about nature-based therapy is that the children get to choose what they do with their time in therapy. For example, if the kid picks up a stick, and it can be a microphone. It is a form of unstructured, free will, you might say, because the therapist puts a child into a situation where they aren't dictating the things that they do, but instead offers them an environment rich of things that they could manipulate, causing them to be more motivated in their therapy sessions.
The Prezi was also a very interesting topic that I looked over. This presentation was all about assistive technology. Assistive technology can be defined as any item, piece of equipment, software program, or product system used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a person with a disability and the services necessary for these materials to be used. The main purpose of assistive technology is to help improve the functional capabilities used by a person with a disability. I also learned about the three categories of AT, which are high tech, medium tech, and low tech. Low tech is described as being intuitive in nature, the least expensive, and the easiest to set up and use. An example would be a grippy on a pencil. Medium tech is a little more expensive than low tech and normally calls for a little bit of training. These types of materials may use batteries, for example, a watch. High tech are often the most expensive, most complex, and can be challenging to set up. An example of this would be a laptop computer. One of the major concepts I learned about AT is the decision-making process. The process is as follows: consider, trial, and implement.
The Prezi was also a very interesting topic that I looked over. This presentation was all about assistive technology. Assistive technology can be defined as any item, piece of equipment, software program, or product system used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a person with a disability and the services necessary for these materials to be used. The main purpose of assistive technology is to help improve the functional capabilities used by a person with a disability. I also learned about the three categories of AT, which are high tech, medium tech, and low tech. Low tech is described as being intuitive in nature, the least expensive, and the easiest to set up and use. An example would be a grippy on a pencil. Medium tech is a little more expensive than low tech and normally calls for a little bit of training. These types of materials may use batteries, for example, a watch. High tech are often the most expensive, most complex, and can be challenging to set up. An example of this would be a laptop computer. One of the major concepts I learned about AT is the decision-making process. The process is as follows: consider, trial, and implement.
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