When people hear me saying I am studying occupational therapy they always ask, “can you help me look for a job? Or they give a blank stare asking if I meant physical therapy?” Then I resort to giving my elevator speech. “Occupational therapy (OT) is a health profession that helps people across the lifespan holistically perform tasks that they want and need to do in everyday life.” Our scope of practice is so broad that we can cover an array of settings and diagnoses. We look at an individual’s physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual wellbeing to help them return to their prior level of function as independently as possible. For some that may be doing previous tasks in a different manner and with the use of equipment.
“Occupational therapy (OT) is a health profession that helps people across the lifespan holistically perform tasks that they want and need to do in everyday life.”
An “occupation” is any purposeful activity that people perform every day such as dressing, bathing, toileting, moving around the community, completing job duties and homework, or even socializing with others. You want to be able to put on and tie your shoes? An OT can help with that. Want to go back to driving? An OT can help with that. How about learning new strategies to help your child get into a routine? You guessed it, an OT can help with that too!
At Kemit Academy, our main focus is pediatric occupational therapy where a child’s occupation is school and play. Pediatric OTs work with children and caregivers in a variety of different ways in a nurturing environment to reach developmental milestones. We encourage growth through play exploration. So the next time you hear about occupational therapy, remember that we do not just help you find a job, lol, but we help you perform the job of living life.
