Occupational Therapy Observation Report

My shadow experiences and volunteer work have offered me the opportunity to interact with various individual whom required adaptation. While observing a pediatric occupational therapist in an outpatient clinic, a young girl with cerebral palsy entered with her family. The little girl brimmed with excitement for her therapy session, in part, because her occupational therapist played such an integral role in her life. Her impaired walking consigned her to a manually powered wheelchair that her mother and twin sister pushed, and I was inspired to observe the family’s eagerness to participate.

The occupational therapist worked with the client on her pincer grasp, bilateral coordination, crossing midline, and upper body strength. She utilized diverse interventions to assist the client in achieving her highest level of independence by improving her performance in her daily occupations. This provides the client with a boost of self-confidence and ultimately improves not only her quality of life, but also that of her family’s.

The dimensions of meaning in daily occupations are very personal and diverse, but in every case, purposeful.

Occupational therapy offers patients and their family’s access to a fuller life. By connecting this girl, her sister, and mother with new techniques for self-care, academic engagement, or play, occupational therapy has reinforced the family bond and improved opportunity for

self-actualization.