Session 17 Independent Work

I listened to the podcast titled “Au-some Swimmers” Role of OT in Swim Lessons for Kids with Autism. They discussed an event where the orchestra put on a sensory show specifically for kids with autism that used Harry Potter music, the conductor used a wand, and more ways to relate the show to the movies. I had not heard of these any events like this before, so I was fascinated as they discussed this. I think it is very heart-warming to create an entire show for this audience, gearing it specifically to their needs and allowing them to enjoy the theater.

An occupational therapist and a student then come on the podcast and talked about how they have been involved in a group called “Au-some Swimmers” at their local JCC. The students at the University of Buffalo have to go out into the community and work with a group of people that do not necessarily have occupational therapy, but could benefit from it. Students then chose this group. One aspect that the group struggled with was communicating with the children with autism and motivating them to complete the activities. The occupational therapy students and the therapists were able to bridge that gap. Though they did not specifically know how to teach kids how to swim, they were able to build the communication aspect between the children, allowing the lifeguards to teach them how to swim easier. I found it fascinating how the OTs were able to tweak different parts of the program to improve it, not knowing anything about swimming, but just about how to help children with autism. They were able to recommend better times for classes to give the children the majority of the pool, rather than sharing with a large group of the community. Knowing first hand how important it is to document progress, the OTs kept track of each step the children made including putting their head under the water, blowing bubbles and more, in order to be able to take the next step each class. This also allowed them to give progress reports to the parents, since they had everything documented, so that they could keep up with the improvements of their children. The knowledge and skill set that the OTs brought to this program even though they did not know much about the specific activity was extremely inspiring and fascinating to learn about.