Knowledge Check Session 25

             After reviewing the podcast "Can Occupational Therapy Help with ADHD?" I can definitively answer this question as, yes! There is a lot of overlap between the diagnoses of sensory processing disorders and ADHD, but both can benefit from occupational therapy. It was very interesting for me to hear about the specific techniques and stories of children who have been diagnosed and gone through occupational therapy. For example, I had never heard of the broken crayon technique that teaches children to adapt and adjust their habits and activities. Dr. Lancaster continues to promote that parents, therapists, teachers, etc. need to be proactive with these children and not just do these adaptive techniques when they are in trouble and going downhill. Another aspect of this podcast that I found to be compelling was the "just right challenge." This challenge supports the concept of a child stopping occupational therapy at a certain time (the OT will know when), so that the child doesn't become dependent on the therapy practices, but develops their own individualized coping techniques.

           Along with the podcast, I enjoyed the presentation about assistive technology. I have always found assistive technology to be very interesting and think this can be extremely beneficial when using it in the therapy setting. Until reviewing this presentation, I was unaware of the 3 different classifications of technology (low, medium, and high). It is clear the effects that each of these have on the individual whether it be high technology vs. low technology, each can have a huge impact on the development and growth of an individual's needs. I have seen firsthand the improvements that can happen and I am excited to be in the therapy setting and learn more about individual techniques and technologies, how they can be specifically applied to situations and the benefits that they may have.