Licensed Occupational Therapist in New York State Essay Example for Free

Licensed Occupational Therapist in New York State Essay Currently, I am a licensed Occupational Therapist in New York State. I work with developmentally disabled and autistic children in both a private capacity and within the public school system. As an occupational therapist for children, I have to draw on the knowledge of a number of disciplines such as cultural studies, medicine, sociology, and even architecture to best serve the needs of each individual. Most of this knowledge helps me to prepare the children for futures in the classroom and society in general. Each discipline area allows me to give the children the physical and psychological tools they will need. However, there is also a very important emotional preparation that the children need even more than their physical needs that goes into my work. Developmentally disabled and autistic children often respond to touch in order to learn. Developmentally disabled children need touch because often verbal communication fails them. Physical contact through massage techniques can teach them how to use the processes they don’t lack in to strengthen the areas they fall behind. Autistic children on the other hand need to learn to accept touch/physical contact as a means of communication. For both areas of my work, I hope to use the knowledge I gain through Finger Lakes School of Massage to integrate techniques that will benefit children as they navigate a world that is often frustrating for them as they learn to adapt. Professional massage training provides me with further tools to utilize in helping children lead fulfilling lives. The techniques that I learn will be applied in early intervention therapy, which provides these special children a head start on preparing for the classroom and other social, academic, and medical situations they may/will encounter in their lives. 2. The world is becoming a smaller place, or so the cliche indicates. Yet I have found within my own community that though the world may grow more connected technologically, people grow farther apart. Many individuals go through whole days, weeks, even months without human physical contact. We are social animals by nature; we were not made to live solitary lives devoid of touch. Human touch is necessary to our well being physically and emotionally, so without this needed touch, we grow more stressed, distant, and irritable. In addition to my work as an occupational therapist in early intervention with developmentally disabled and autistic children, I hope to use the expertise I gain at Finger Lakes School of Massage to serve my community. In both my occupational therapy work with very young children and as a message therapist for adults, I firmly believe that the combination of physical touch and massage provides my clients an opportunity to relax overused muscles and make use of long dormant muscles. Therefore, I would like to be able to offer my services as a massage therapist to the people around me. I have found that despite the vast need for such services, most communities including my own have very few massage therapists or simply none at all. Those few often find themselves exceedingly busy trying to fulfill the need of their communities because so many people seek out message therapy to ease the demands on their bodies and minds. The time used to deliver a massage is time individuals can use to slow down and care for their personal health and well being. Massage is a growing discipline that is attempting to fill the essential need of human socialization that includes necessary touch, physical release of tension, and an opportunity to just stop and relax.