Self-Discovery Tapestry

In our "occupations across the lifespan" course, we had to evaluate our lives based on a self discovery tapestry. On the grid, you plot major events in your life across different situations in your life, such as who you live with, what your hobbies are, and whether or not you were happy at the time. Every time something in your life changes, you are supposed to use a new color, signifying how "colorful" your life was. After we finished the tapestry, we were asked to reflect on what we learned.


The Assignment: Discuss what you learned about yourself, your own occupational profile, and the process of creating an occupational profile, by completing the personal shield, Life Tapestry, and other self-assessment activities. Compared to this action and reflection approach, what differences do you anticipate in using interview and observation skills to complete your other occupational profile?

My Response: Upon completing all of the self-assessments, including the life tapestry, I have discovered how much an individual’s life situation (such as location and finances) can have an impact on his or her occupations. The interest checklists made me realize how many of the activities that I am interested in I am actually not currently participating in. Then my life tapestry showed me exactly why this is the case. I can best explain this with an example:

I love doing outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, fishing, boating, skiing, horseback riding etc. When I used to participate in these things the most was when I lived with my parents in Mansfield, Ohio. At the time, my parents paid for many of my needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter, leaving my own money for leisure activities and hobbies. We were also in a prime location for outdoor activities. There are two ski resorts within a fifteen minute drive of their home, as well as Mohican State Park, which is within a half hour. My grandpa, who lives about twenty minutes away from my parents, has a pond on his property where I was able to fish and canoe whenever I wanted to.

When I graduated from high school, I moved to Columbus, Ohio to attend college at The Ohio State University (a major event on my life tapestry). This took away my accessibility to these hobbies, as well as all the money needed to participate in them, as I was on my own financially for the first time. Now, at Shawnee State, my busy schedule and the expenses associated with graduate school, will most likely keep me from enjoying the outdoors for the next two years as well. While my interest in these activities still remains quite strong, I am unable to participate because I can not afford to travel, purchase equipment, or give up my time to continue my hobbies on a regular basis.

In Meltzer’s (2001) article on the self-discovery tapestry, she notes that people are always adapting their occupations, especially when their current occupation is interrupted by a major life event. This is definitely true in my case. When I started out on my own in Columbus, my occupational role as a fun-loving daughter adapted obligingly to my new situation, and I became a college student living “paycheck to paycheck.” Since I was unable to spend my free time outdoors, I found other hobbies that were less expensive and easier to access in the big city.

When I was doing these assessments on myself, it was easy for me to notice major changes in my own life and the way they affected me because I know everything there is to know about my own life. When I do the occupational profile assignment on another individual through observation and interviews, it is very likely that I could miss something. Embarrassment, denial, or forgetfulness could also keep that individual from giving me information that would be necessary to do a complete occupational profile. Hopefully, by being prepared with specific questions and examples from my own experience, I will be able to extract the appropriate information.

Meltzer, P. J. (2001). Using the self-discovery tapestry to explore occupational careers. Journal of Occupational Science, 8(2), 16-24.

First Day of School

Today was our first day of class! It was a pretty simple day, we really just did introductions, and went over our syllabus for each class.

Our first class, Theories in Occupation, taught by the program director, Debora Scurlock, will discuss all of the theory behind what we do as occupational therapists. We learned that an "occupation" is defined as anything that a person incorporates into their every day living, and that occupations differ from person to person. Occupation is also different from "activity," which is something that anyone can do, but may choose not to. As our professor described it: "My daughter wakes up every morning at 4:30AM to run. To her that is an occupation. That is an activity, I will stay far away from."

Our second class is our clinical practicum. We are volunteering at Hempstead Manor, which is a nursing home located in Portsmouth. Pictured below are several of the girls in the program, including myself, dressed in uniform before we left for clinicals. Once we got to Hempstead, We were each assigned a different resident to work one-on-one with. For confidentiality reasons, I will refer to my resident as "E." Today we just spent some time getting to know each other over some chips and dip, but I'm sure I will have much more to talk about as I get to know her more. The main part of the class is focused on planning activities for large groups. We were split into teams and we will have to plan 3 different events for the residents at Hempstead. I'm really excited that we are already working in the field!

After seeing all of our assignments written out on paper, I have come to realize that it may be difficult for me to keep up with this blog. I am going to try my best, but I will definitely post some of my assignments up for everyone to read as well!

Emily Carson

Yesterday I spent 10 hours shadowing Emily Carson, OTR at two Southern Ohio Medical Center locations in Lucasville and Wheelersburg. Emily received her bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University and began practicing as an occupational therapist in 1997. This was waaaaaay back when you only needed a bachelor's to practice as an OT. I don't mean to degrade her in anyway, Emily was very intelligent and talented, I just may be slightly bitter that I have to get my masters.

I got to experience a wide variety of patients in the outpatient rehab setting. The only place I have ever shaddowed before was in a pediatric develpment facility. There, the OTs worked with children with developmental disabilities, helping them to gain functional abilities that they may gain naturally as typically developing children do. Emily's patients were adults who have been injured or had surgery or both, and need to regain strength and/or range of motion, mostly of the joints. Some of the cases I saw yesterday include: tennis elbow (tendonitis), carpel tunnel, torn biceps, shoulder and knee replacements, and back injuries.

One of the treatments that I was able to watch Emily give to several of her patients is called ASTYM. Pronounced "a-stim," the treatment is designed to break up fibrotic tissue the body forms after injury. Normal muscle fibers run parallel, along the length of the muscle. After an injury, the new fibers and scar tissue regrow "every-which-way" and can cause stiffness and immobility. During treatment, the provider runs the edges of different acrylic tools (pictured left) along the injured muscle. Where normal muscle tissue is, the instruments run smoothly, and where fibrotic tissue is, both the patient and provider can feel what Emily described as a "washboard effect." The edges of each instrument are designed to break up that "washboard" as they are run over of the damaged tissue. Emily, as well as some of the patients, told me that the treatment can be quite painful, and can cause bruising. However, many patients have seen results including decreased pain and increased range of motion.

The most pressing issue I discovered yesterday is that I really need to brush up on my Anatomy. Emily used the specific terminology when talking with patients about their injuries. It all sounds familiar, but I wouldn't have remembered all that on my own. Looks like I'm going to have a lot of studying ahead of me!

Shawnee State University

I have recently found that a few of my newly graduated friends have been blogging about their work and internship experience. Last night I was having trouble sleeping, and decided to come up with one of my own. I'm hoping that it will become some kind of electronic portfolio of my experiences in grad school and out in the clinic. Not only will it be a fun break from my studies, but it may also work as just the opposite: a tool for me to recap what I have learned and freshen my memory later on down the road.

So for those of you who don't know, here's a little bit about me. I am a 22 year old alumnus of The Ohio State University. I received my bachelors degree in allied medical professions, with a major in Health Management in March of this year. I have learned a lot about the health field in the past 4 years, and, on a side note, I'm very interested in seeing what our newly elected president is going to do to remedy the health care situation. I think everyone agrees that something has to change, but nobody knows just how to go about it, or how we will ever afford it.

Anyway...last month I moved from the bustling city of Columbus to the teeny tiny little town of Portsmouth (or as i like to call it Practicallykentucky), Ohio, just two hours south. Here, at Shawnee State University, is where I will be studying toward my Master of Occupational Therapy. Now, let me tell you a little something about these two universities. OSU is one of the biggest universities in the US, home to over 50,000 students. The football stadium holds over 100,000 people and it's players are celebrities. Depending on your walking speed, crossing campus can take over 20 minutes, and a parking pass for the year cost over $200. SSU on the other hand, at any given time educates less than half the number of students that OSU graduated this June. It does not have a footbal team, and all the other sports are open to anyone who wants to play. I can easily walk across campus in approximately 4 minutes, and my parking pass was free.

Needless to say, I am in for a big change. I am extremely excited. While I LOVED being in Columbus, and I LOVE the buckeyes, I am a small town girl at heart, and I think I will benefit greatly from the smaller, community oriented atmosphere. My parents bought a house about a mile from the university, and I will be living with 3 other girls who will be in the MOT program with me. All of us will be moved in tomorrow, orientation is Friday, and we start classes one week from today on August 19th.

Here comes the next 2.5 years of my life!