From the moment that I learned about occupational therapy, I became incredibly interested in learning more and more about it, leading me to apply to OT school. One thing that I
learned very quickly after my acceptance to occupational therapy school is that
a large majority of people I know do not understand what occupational therapy
is. I found myself having to explain what the field is to just about everyone that I encountered.
Due to the common misconceptions that people had about OT, I thought it would be interesting to check Twitter, a social media site where people are able to put their own thoughts out there for anyone to read, rather than a site that publishes articles that only certain individuals can write, to see what was being said about this topic. I
typed in the hashtag #occupationaltherapy into the Twitter search bar. For the most part, it is occupational
therapists sharing something exciting or meaningful about their day. These
people, of course, do not have a misunderstanding because they are OTs. A very
common post was about a recent episode of a show, Call The Midwife, which I
have not seen. After looking into the posts, what I gathered is that the show referenced occupational therapy
and I saw almost 100 posts about this. Such a small but important clip, because
it is getting the field of occupational therapy out in the public, bringing
attention to what it is and what we all want to accomplish. Advocating for the field is important in the
mainstream media, and ensuring that information is correct is even more
important.
During my undergraduate studies, I was a part of a group called TerpAccess Disability Network, where we advocated for people with disabilities on the University of Maryland's campus. A few others and I were assigned to specifically address Greek life to try and make recruitment and sororities more inclusive so that anyone and everyone could participate. During these presentations, person-first language was a topic we emphasized greatly. We wanted to ensure that each girl at the presentation understood the importance and significance of not labeling someone by their disability, but rather as a person that has a disability. No one wants to join an organization that does not see them as a person first, which is why we found it so important. As an occupational therapy student, I am still learning about the different areas that I can get involved in once I am an occupational therapist, but I know that working with people with disabilities is a huge possibility. Being able to take what I have learned, as well as expand upon it through my experiences, will allow me to interact and treat individuals with disabilities to the best of my ability, if that is the area that I choose.
