Looking out

Today seems like the perfect day for a little blogging, no? I wish I would've had this started earlier to tell you every detail from my observation in a special needs school. Since this is the path of physical therapy that I've chosen to take, I figured it would be best to shadow in this setting. I got a hold of the local special needs school, and after some phone calls, emails, and a background check (clean, thank you very much,) I was on my way to job shadowing!

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this experience. In my previous shadowing experiences, I had mostly just been able to watch, not do. I've never been one to stand around and watch people while I sit there doing nothing, so I was hoping this experience would be different in that aspect. I really appreciated the work that I saw in my previous encounters in physical therapy, but I just was not a huge fan of standing around all the time!

The school that I was shadowing at was state-of-the-art by no one's standards. Some of the equipment was outdated, but the therapists obviously had to make do with what they had. Luckily for the school, they could not have chosen a better therapist for the job. The PT I shadowed was simply amazing at what she did. She worked so well with the children, and the way they responded was simply extraordinary. I've never really looked up to anyone in a professional aspect, but this PT was sure to change that.

The first thing we did was take a tour of the facility. As small as it was, there was still things I needed to know about the place, and the PT really made me feel comfortable with the school. She also introduced me to the staff (all very wonderful people) and started to introduce me to the kids. She gave me a background about each student in the school that she worked on. There was a range of kids there. Some were born the way they were. Some, however, got that way from neglect or abuse from their parents. It was incredibly sad to see the kids like that and know that someone could do that to them, but I was relieved by the fact that they were now receiving such excellent care at this school.

From the very first day I was there, the PT had no qualms about me working with the students. Helping hands were never something she would turn down, and she was always very quick to remind me how nice it was to have an extra set of arms around to lift and move some of the kids who could not do it themselves. It came as much relief to see that the PT was so wiling to let me help when I could.

One of the first things I remember doing at the school was helping a child use a gate trainer. If you can imagine a walker that a baby would use, (Chicco DJ Baby Walker, Splash) you can kind of get the idea of a gate trainer. It helps the students learn the basic muscle control of walking without allowing them to fall down and hurt themselves. I asked a lot about the kind of goals that the PT would set with the students. I wasn't quite sure where her therapy was going, but was shocked to learn that her ultimate goal for this student was to walk! Right now, he could only roll on the ground and walk with the gate trainer. She was very confident, however, that he would be able to walk someday. She mentioned that goals are very long-term for these students since they aren't simply healing something, but reteaching a behavior. It takes time for the muscle to get that memory that is required to walk. This is one thing I am really excited about for my future. To be able to take a child that can barely crawl and get him to the point where he can take steps on his own! It seems incredibly rewarding.

After the gate trainer, the PT showed me some stretches that she did on the kids to loosen their muscle tone. I think we did only one 1:1 session helping a student who was in a wheelchair learn to grasp a ball and transfer it to his other hand. A seemingly mundane task, but can be made super fun when you're working with this group of kids.

I absolutely loved that first day at the school. Can't wait to write about the days that come! Leave me some feedback!