My Neurotransmitter Project

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ALS and a Tennis Ball

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My mom and I were tossing the tennis ball back and forth while I was bouncing ideas around about how to transform a tennis ball into a therapeutic tool and it hit me! While I didn't literally get hit with the ball, the idea did just pop in my head. Looking at the tennis ball by itself and thinking of something was tough, but after connecting it to the needs of my client and her immediate and future interests, it was much easier! I came up with the idea of an adapted built up handle using a tennis ball based on my client's report of her occupations, her difficulties doing some of those occupations, and her goals for herself.  I think the most significant thing I'll take from this project was making the connection between what my client needed and what I needed to do to help her do what she wanted to do. There's a difference between thinking about this process and then actually doing it - it was fun, too! This assignment makes you think deeper about the interests of a per...
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Living with Multiple Sclerosis

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I chose to watch this TED Talk, "Thriving in the Face of Adversity" by Stephanie Buxhoeveden simply out of curiosity of Multiple Sclerosis. I was unfamiliar with this disorder, but Buxhoeveden goes into great detail explaining what MS is by using her own story of being diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting MS. At 25 years old, in the midst of pursuing her dream career as a nurse anesthetist, she began to lose feeling in her legs, control of her hands, and even the clarity of her vision. She stayed in the hospital for a week before being able to return home. Her vision and sensation of her body returned, but this was just the first of many attacks her central nervous system would face.  Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that effects the neurons in the brain and spinal cord, which impacts the entire body one way or another. The hardest part about MS is its unpredictability -  Buxhoeveden recounted of a time she went hiking up a mountain one day and then had to use a ...
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Unilateral Neglect and Occupational Therapy

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I listened to a Glass Half Full podcast episode, "Unilateral Neglect" with Jess and Natalie. I chose this because the condition is new yet so interesting to me. In this podcast, these two OT practitioners share their knowledge on and experiences with unilateral neglect following a stroke, and shed some light on some very important aspects of this condition, including OT's role in addressing it! Some important things that I took from this podcast had to do with the etiology of unilateral neglect. A stroke that occurs in the inferior parietal lobe, superior temporal gyrus, and inferior frontal cortex will likely lead to neglect in some form or fashion. While a stroke can occur on either hemisphere, a right hemispheric stroke that results in left neglect is increasingly harder to treat for a number of reasons. The main reason left neglect is tricky is because of the decreased level of self awareness often experienced by clients. If a client is unaware of their condition, i...
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