A Very OT Christmas
I know what you’re thinking: “she brings her work into her holidays?” And you know what? I do! Not just because I’m working on said holiday a good portion of the time — rather because occupational therapy is so very universal, it’s nearly impossible not to find it in everything we do.
Take, for example, buying my son Christmas presents. Now, I’m not going to pretend I’m a pediatric therapist or that post-school I’ve spent any significant amount of time working with kiddos (for the record, I had one clinical fieldwork in pediatrics — Birth to Three, to be exact. And I did ABA therapy while I was an undergraduate). I rely heavily on my knowledge of what skills he should be developing at his age level, then I find toys that will help him develop those skills. Pretty straight forward! But how do I do that? And what did he get this year? Let’s just get right to it:
· Melissa and Doug table and four stools. Baer does a lot of art work at school, and while he initially seemed annoyed by it, he has really started to enjoy it. I bought him the table and stools because: 1. They were the perfect size for him, and 2. Because he can spread out his papers and crayons (or whatever medium) and get to work. I like that he can do playdough at the table or play on his tablet, too. Truly, the table is good for anything! Can’t go wrong.
· Mr. Potato Head. This was primarily driven by his current obsession with the Toy Story movies (Mr. Potato Head is his favorite character. He even calls himself “Baer Becker Potato Head”), but I also love that this toy encourages his imaginative play, as well as fine motor development and hand and digit strengthening. Plus, Potato Heads are a classic! They never go out of style as far as pediatricians are concerned.
· Henley tees and lace up sneakers. Do I think Baer should be tying his own shoes at age three? I mean, it would be cool, but I don’t expect it. I’m buying him shirts with buttons and shoes with laces because he wants to be able to do button his own shirts and tie his own shoes. I’m always going to encourage him; I let him try — with gentle verbal cues and the occasional visual or tactile cues at the ready — until he requests assistance. This is exactly how I treat my adult patients! Try until you just can’t get it. That lets me see what you’re capable of. I trust he’s giving me his best efforts (I’m his mama; I can tell when he’s not!), and really, at the end of the day, him improving his ADL skills is worth me spending a bit of extra time tying shoes in the morning.
· Chef’s outfit and Doctor’s outfit. These serve multiple purposes: 1. They provide him with practice dressing himself, 2. They encourage pretend play, and 3. Putting the costume on and performing pretend play encourages even more ADL activity! As a chef, he’s already at the stove with his Tutu Kane making potato soup (knife skills, pouring skills). As a doctor, he’s taking his Daddy-o’s temperature and dispensing medicine (measuring skills, counting, and spelling). I admit, while I do admire his choice in potential jobs, I did have a talk with him about choosing career paths that require you to work on holidays.