MY OT Journey – Details, episodes & analysis

Kimberly Lucchese and Michal Movashov, two BS/MS OT students at LIU Brooklyn interview LIU OT alum Alexandra Godiva, owner of OT Dance Studio. She can be reached at otdancestudio.com or on IG @otdancestudio .

Christopher Marotta is an Occupational Therapist currently working at the Henry Viscardi School in Albertson, NY. He has gained a wealth of experience throughout his career, working in many pediatric and adult settings, including St. Charles Hospital. However, Christopher's passion is assistive technology. He enjoys the challenge of problem solving, making adaptations and creating modifications to enable independent access to support participation in functional performance contexts across the lifespan. He shares this knowledge and experience when he teaches and presents.

Christopher is an adjunct professor for courses on the topic of assistive technology at SUNY Stony Brook and Touro University. He earned his B.S.in Occupational Therapy and Health Sciences from SUNY Stony Brook in 2002 and returned to complete his M.S. in Occupational Therapy from Misericordia University in 2012.

He is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Occupational Therapy with Touro University. Christopher is a co-leader of the NYC chapter of Makers Making Change, an organization that links AT makers with people in need for adaptations and assistive technology devices.

Welcome to Students in CHRG! In this episode, we’re talking with Shoshana Shamberg about her experience as an occupational therapist and as an Irlen Diagnostician! In this podcast we aimed to bring insight into the role of occupational therapy within this specialized field, and gain a better understanding of our OT’s journey with Irlen Syndrome, and her incredible stories that got her to where she is now!

References:

Irlen, H. (2005). Reading by the colors: Overcoming dyslexia and other reading disabilities through the Irlen method. Penguin. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=oAhC4mVpw6MC&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=irlen+method&ots=jLDnqe_gOx&sig=Y8kIFnHVR9bgLhwaf393feiNTd4#v=onepage&q=irlen%20method&f=false

Irlen Syndrome Foundation. (2015, March 23). What is Irlen syndrome?

https://www.irlensyndrome.org/what-is-irlen-syndrome/

Pocket OT. (2019, January 2). Irlen syndrome. Pocket Occupational Therapist | The Pocket

Occupational Therapist. https://www.pocketot.com/irlen-syndrome/

Welcome to Students in CHRG! In this episode, we’re talking with KaRena Lehman about her experience as an occupational therapist within the United States Airforce! In this podcast, we aimed to bring insight into the role of occupational therapy within the military, with a special focus on ergonomics, environment, and psychological impacts.  

References

Baumann, M. L., Brown, A. N., Quick, C. D., Breuer, S. T., & Smith-Forbes, E. V. (2018). Translating occupational therapy’s current role within U.S. army combat and operational stress control operations. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 34(3), 258–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/0164212x.2018.1425952

Brown, H. V., & Hollis, V. (2013). The meaning of occupation, occupational need, and occupational therapy in a military context. Physical Therapy, 93(9), 1244–1253. https://doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20120162

Dr. Sammons grew up in Wattsburg, Pennsylvania and attended California and State Teachers College in  California, Pennsylvania to study Industrial Arts.  Upon graduating, he moved to a small town in WV to teach mechanical drawing to high school students.

After serving in the Korean war, he attended Richmond Professional Institute which is now called VCU and received his certificate in Occupational Therapy.

Shortly thereafter he started his OT career by finding employment as the chief director of OT at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and worked there for about 5 years practicing rehabilitation and completing research in prosthetics.  During this time he also joined staff at the amputee clinic in Northwestern University, and later received an honorary doctorate in 1983 from WMU to recognize the many contributions he has made to the field of OT.

Dr. Sammons is the creator of the button aid, a self-care aid that we call adaptive equipment in the field, that was and still is used today for self-care dressing tasks. Dr. Sammons created his own company called Button King Inc. after showcasing the button aid at conferences like AOTA and seeing its utility and popularity.  This product became mass produced and laid the framework for an entrepreneurial career in assistive technology and research.  The company has evolved over the years and is now called Performance Health; a company that catalogues around 2,500 products.

Over the years, Dr. Sammons has won numerous awards, advocated for the OT profession both internationally and domestically, and was recently named one of the top 100 Influential People of Occupational Therapy by AOTA.  He also has made numerous charitable donations to VCU and other universities and organizations.  

An archive was recently made and can be viewed at the following link:

https://fredsammons.org/about/about-fs

Hosted by:

Alexander Leary Connolly, OTS

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program

Virginia Commonwealth University

Welcome back to Students in CHRG! As you may know, CHRG Therapy is a telehealth occupational therapy company that specializes in hand, upper extremity, ergonomics, and home modifications. In this podcast we aim to bring you insights into the very field of occupational therapy. For those of you who don't know, April is OT Month! For OT month we’re going to discuss the foundation of CHRG, how to create your own OT business, and the challenges that OT faces today. We have a guest speaker, Shanna Corbin, who is a Certified Hand Therapist and also the founder of CHRG therapy. 

Welcome to Students in CHRG! In our fifth episode, we’re talking with The Milkmaven Mollie about breastfeeding and Ergonomics! We discuss the benefits of proper ergonomics for breastfeeding, common injuries experienced by moms, and the challenges new moms face with COVID-19. Mollie is an OTR/L, CHT, CLC who provides one-on-one consultations for new moms.

Sources:

References

Fernandes, J.G. (2018). Occupational therapists’ role in perinatal care: A health promotion approach. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72(5), 7205347010. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2018.028126

Santhosh, B. M. (2019). Exploration in to the ergonomics of sitting posture of lactating mothers. International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT). 8(5)

 Welcome back to Students in CHRG! As some of you may know, CHRG Therapy is a telehealth occupational therapy company that specializes in hand, upper extremity, ergonomics, and home modifications. In this podcast, we aim to bring you the latest evidence-based research in the field. In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss public transportation accessibility in larger cities, and later we’ll have a guest speaker from Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, better known as SEPTA.

Reference List 

Bezyak, J.L., Sabella, S.A., & Gattis, R.H. (2017). Public transportation: An investigation of barriers for people with disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 8(1), 52-60. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044207317702070

Sabella, S. A., & Bezyak, J. L. (2019). Barriers to Public Transportation and Employment: A National Survey of Individuals With Disabilities. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, 50(3), 174–185. https://doi-org.ezp.scranton.edu/10.1891/0047-2220.50.3.174

SEPTA. 2020. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Retrieved Jan 2021 from http://www.septa.org

First-year students from the Iona College MSOT program, Madeline List and Taylor Alvarez interview Michele Morgante OTD, OTR/L on Mission Accessibility. Mission Accessibility is an initiative being taken at Iona College to research campus accessibility and innovatively navigate structural challenges to improve the college experience for all students. Dr. Morgante explains some of the ways her students have been conducting research on campus and utilizing entrepreneurial and design thinking.

Oma Episode Part II includes an interview with Art for the Journey's (AFJ) Executive Director, Cindy Paullin, and VCU's OT graduate student, Hannah Johnson. This episode complements the first part of the OMA episode series by exploring the evolution of Art for the Journey through its inception, which began as a non-profit, volunteer organization, until today, as it perseveres through the obstacles the pandemic has presented. It explains how Opening Minds through Art (OMA) was added to AFJ's programs and the impact that it has had on their development and subsequent programs. Art for the Journey overcomes barriers and transforms lives through creative expression, with a special focus on people who do not normally have access to such experiences.  They provide a range of art programs aimed at bringing a sense of wellbeing and even healing within an environment of personal engagement, support, and celebration.  AFJ provides instruction and art-making experiences to women in prison, low income elderly, at-risk children, children with Juvenile Diabetes, older adults with dementia and Alzheimer's, and veterans suffering PTSD and combat-related disabilities.

While AFJ was not created by OT's, much of what they do in their work is very relatable to the field of OT and it's practiced. In this episode, we compare and contrast some of these similarities and bring light to the many ways in which this program is helping numerous populations of the community. Hannah Johnson discusses her experience completing her doctoral capstone project in response to the pandemic and a changing schedule to the curriculum and how she incorporated her OT knowledge into program development with AFJ.

If you have any questions about this episode, AFJ, or would just like to connect, feel free to reach out to the student influencers by email or text!"

Alex Connolly's contact information:

[email protected]

cell: 804-370-8662