I am an occupational therapy student studying at Otago PolyTechnic. I have set up this blog as part of a paper, Participation in Occupation. In this course we aim to look at occupations thorugh the use of technology and explore how it can be used in OT practise.
In class we were set the task of creating as short film
portraying a theme. The theme of our film was occupational deprivation,which is a state of prolonged preclusion from
engagement occupations of necessity or meaning due to factors that are outside
the control of an individual such as geographical isolation, incarceration, or
disability" (Christansen & Townsend, 2010).
Our film was called based around the life of a poor student.
Being a student means you are often deprived of money, time, and sleep. Our film begins out with a chubby student,
starting her years out down in Dunedin, and finding herself not able to buy the
food she wants, participate in leisure activities such as the movies, and sleep
in. all this deprivation pays off though as we then see herwith her degree, working hard and a lot skinner!
The moral of the story, deprivation isn’t always a bad thing.
References:
Christiansen, C.H., Townsend, E.A. (2004). Introduction to occupation: the art of
science
For this tutorial, we were asked to select five other blogs which to follow. i have selected five blogs that all are relevant to Occupational Therapy and will be beneficial to follow. I have linked them up to my google reader.
Another blog i have taken interest in is my student peer ruby's.
I took particular interest to her video clip she had uploaded about a type of syndrome i had never heard of. Becasue of this i commented on her post:
hi ruby! these videos are so interesting. i
have never heard of people with this syndrome before. what other syndromes did
you come across while you were on placement?
to which she replied,
Hi Lily yes this syndrome is not very common as you would have heard in the
video. Most of the other syndromes were common such as autism and down syndrome,
that is why i wanted to spread the word
on one of the not so common syndromes. Thank you for watching.
This tutorial we looked at assistive technology, and we were required to explore a piece of assistive technology avaliable, and discuss its features and benefits. Assistive technology is defined as technological interventions or devices designed to enable active engagement or participations in occupations through energy conservation, accommodation for diverse physical disabilities, or compensation for functional limitations or disabilities (Christian & Townsend, p 417).
The Apple iPad most is one of the newest trends to hit the technological market. The iPad is marketed as a platform for audio and visual media such as books, periodicals, movies, music, and games, as well as the allowing for the use of the internet. It is distinctive in design, light, portable and easy to use. The ability to choose from a range of applications means the iPad can be made to suit the needs of the users, and offer an experience that is unique and beneficial to the clients.
There are many applications that can be downlaoded to improve the skills of those living with intellectual disabilities. Other applications can be downloaded that encourage play, motor and process skills, and promote sensory engagement.
Watch this clip for more information about the iPad itself.
References:
Christiansen, C.H., Townsend, E.A. (2004). Introduction to occupation: the art of
science
This website is a social networking website called Autism Speaks. It allows members to sign up to thier own account, interact with other members, post in forums, create your own page, and acces other blogs. I think this website would be very benefical to those who are living with an autistic family member who wan to reach out and share thier experiences with others in similar situations. Often people with disabilities in the family can feel embarrased or be made to feel different. This website is a excellent way for these families to unite and create thier own unique community. Members are free to cintribute pictures, tell stories, and give support to all those that seek it.
This website is a forum for people suffering from, or living with someone suffering from schziophrenia. members can remain annonymous or have an identity in whic great relationships can be made. There are other links to other mental illness sites, aswell as games and fun stuff on the page to look into. a section detailing about therapy and medical issues surrounding schziophrenia are there aswell. This is another good place for suffers to go fo discuss issues with people who understand what you are going through. mental illness often has high levels if stigma attached, so these forusm are a great place for outsiders to explore also and gain a little more insight.
This website is an online community for people who have sufferd a loss, and are in a period of grief. Grieving periods can last for only a short time, and some can last a life time. Some grievers can even have times when they are managing, and others when they are struggling with the loss. This page allows for people to express their feelings with others. People who are grieving can often feel alone, and that no one really understands how they are feeling, so a blog or website like this allows for this expression. There is also a tribute page in this site for people to share with others the identity of thier loved one.
Issues with websites like these could be:
People get too attached to thier online communitues and start to neglect the ones arround them.
Fake accounts are made by people that dont actually have any relevance to the site.
The sufffer of the diease, may not actually want to be on these websites, it could be the family members pushing for involvement.
In this Tutorial we discussed the concepts around doing, being, becomming and belonging, and how it was relevant to certain occupations. the occupation i chose to explore is 'interacting,' in all forms
I have made a slide show that explores all the different types of interactions around us. During my fieldwork placement last year, I worked at an
intellectual disability centre and what they liked to encourage the most within
the centre was interaction, especially with each other and in the enviroment. There are many ways interaction can happen. Human
interaction with anything we choose is all forms of occupations. Whether it be interaction
between friends, animals, technology, when we participate in occupations we are
interacting with something in some way.
To do, be,
become, and belong, all involve elements of interaction.
The definition
of “doing” is an action or a performance of an action (Collins, 2011, pg 491) When we do
things, we interact with different people, objects, and enviroments.
“Being” is
the state or fact of existing (Collins, 2011 pg 151) Throughout our
existence we will interact in different ways.
“Become” is to
come to be, to develop or grow into (Collins, 2011 pg 148)
The more we
interact with different people, places, and thngs, the more we develop and grow
as a person.
"Belonging" is to
be bound to (Collins, 2011, pg 153)
Certain interactions
have more value than others that we are bound or belong to.
The ethical considerations
I made when making my slide show were:
Making sure that anyone in the photos I took, knew I
was taking them and what the photos were intended for.
Referencing of pictures I retrieved from another
source, to eliminate copy right.
Used the pictures in an appropriate way, which was
intended.
References:
Colins, W.
Collins. (2011). English dictionary. New Zealand edition. Harper Collins Publishers:
Glasgow
For my first
blog I have been asked to explore what exactly Information Technology means,
and the ethical issues that can arise when we use technologies.
Before I began
this course, my definition of Information Technology was simple- I thought it
meant anything to do with computers. If I was to be perfectly honest, I didn’t
actually know that the abbreviation “IT” in fact stood for Information
Technology until I clicked onto it during our first class. The definition of
Information Technology according to better informed people, such as Allen
(2004), defines Information technology to be the use of computers,
telecommunications, and other devices, in electronic processing, storing,
retrieving and sending information. Other definitions such as from Wikipedia
describe it as, “The acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of
vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based
combination of computing and telecommunications (2012).” So from all these definitions,
I have been progressive in my thinking and now see Information technology as
not only computers, but it is all the ways we use, share, and store information
using the different gadgets, machines and devices that are currently available.
Technology is
becoming more and more a part of everyday life. I would think one would find it
increasingly difficult to find a person that hasn’t used any item of technology
in the last while. Even the older generation are joining the pack. I know my
grandparents are, as they now order their groceries online, use Skype video
calling, and frequently send text messages.
here is a clip about the advances on technology advances changing human evolution.
I think that
Information Technology is becoming an increasingly common place, which is strongly
held together by the internet. Through the internet we can come together in a
common cyber place, which also allows us to share with others our own
individual common places. My flat for example is a common place to me, and even
though my mother hasn’t physically stepped foot inside it, she knows exactly
what it looks like due to me giving her a video tour and showing her photos
online.
I will admit
however I am not the biggest fan of technology. In fact I struggle to use
majority of technology devices. They just don’t interest me that much. I have a
basic cell phone, and cannot for the life of me use an IPhone or any of the
other latest Apple products. I have a laptop which I use regularly for Polytech
purposes, but it is not the latest or the greatest and is a very standard
model. I am not one of those people that need to have the newest of everything,
just as long as I can receive texts, check emails, type out assignments, and go
on Facebook then I am happy. Oh and check Moodle!
On my field
work placements there was not a lot of use for technology. The clients that
used the facilities were from an older generation and preferred to engage in
activities such as painting, going for walks, jewellery making and cooking. It
was interesting to note though that a lot of what they made and where the care
workers got their ideas for activities from where now from the internet instead
of books.
Here is a video concerning technology within the elder
generation.
Because we
are entering a future with continuous increasing technology, it is important to
try to understand and see how IT will help us in our future practise, and in
our daily lives. Even of we don’t like it, we will have to adapt and deal with
it to a certain extent. There are many benefits that IT brings, I just think the
main obstacle is learning and becoming familiar with how it works.
Often with
technology there are ethical considerations that need to be made. These are
mainly regarding the capturing, sharing, and transferring of information. The considerations
around ethics are becoming more concerning in all areas, with the aim of
preventing any form of harm (Quin, 2009).
Computer ethics
from what is stated in Wikipedia (2012) is a branch of practical philosophy
which deals with how computing professionals should make decisions regarding
professional and social conduct. From what I have seen on most social
networking sites, and other sites involving social interaction, they have codes
and conduct out in place which all members must read the terms and conditions,
then “clickagree” to enable them to
further use the site. I assume this is how websites receive approval from its
users in the aim of being more ethical. These sites also give their users the
options to choose what information they want to share, and with who they want
to share it with. These features haven’t always been available though. It used
to be that when you were “tagged” in a photo on Facebook, it was uploaded strait
onto your personal page for everyone to see, and sometimes it could be there
for days without you even knowing! Of course you had the power to remove it
from your own page and un-tag yourself, but from the time of the tagging to the
time if removal, it was visible to everyone whether you liked it or not. this
ethical dilemma has since been addressed, but what I am wondering is that as
technology is becoming more and more advanced, how will they maintain control
of these ethical considerations? It seems with improving technologies there is
so much more to consider!
References:
Allen, R.
(2004). The penguin english dictionary. London: Penguin Books.
Quin, M. (2009). Ethics for the information age. Pearson Education: USA
Wikipeadia.
(2012). Information technology. Retrieved May 2012 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology
Wikipeadia.
(2012). Computing ethics. Retrieved May 2012 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_ethics
