To my Chronic Illness Medical Team…
It was very therapeutic for me to write a guest blog post for CreakyJoints, a patient advocacy and education site that focuses on arthritis and related conditions. To my chronic illness medical team is my love letter to the often unsung heroes in the medical profession: providers who care for patients like me who have chronic, complex, invisible illnesses. I am so fortunate to have had dozens of compassionate, caring providers during my 16 years with rheumatoid arthritis. I hope to inspire other providers to go into some of the less popular specialties such as pediatric rheumatology, where there are currently some shortages nation-wide. You won’t have the most straightforward patients,…
Strategies for Neurotypical People to Develop Empathy for Autistic People
Historically, there has been much discussion about the extent to which autistic people experience empathy. I am using the phrase “autistic people” rather than “people with autism,” per the recommendation from the Autism Self-Advocacy Network. Recent studies indicate that while autistic people may experience and demonstrate empathy in different ways from neurotypical people, they do indeed experience it, sometimes to intense degrees. The debate is well summarized here. Throughout this discussion, I have observed a curious and glaring omission: what about how and whether neurotypical people empathize with autistic people? One of the basic tenets of social skills is reciprocity, an attunement to the back and forth nature of social…
Parenting Without Pain: Dressing and Clothing Life Hacks
I am proud to be a guest blogger with the wonderful patient resource Creaky Joints. I am currently writing a series of posts on the topic of Parenting Without Pain. The posts will tackle how parents with arthritis or other painful joint conditions can approach activities of daily living involved in caring for children in a way that minimizes joint pain. My first topic is Dressing and Clothing Life Hacks. In this post, I cover everything from clothing selection (more zippers, less snaps!) to joint protection strategies, regardless of materials used (such as using a hand splint, as pictured below). Click here for the full post! (Note: as of 2019 the post isn’t available due…
Childhood Memories and Lessons that Influence my Work as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist: Part 1
Below, I will share childhood memories that influence my daily work as a pediatric occupational therapist. Accessing my childhood memories helps me identify with a child’s perspective, even if that child has a specific disability or challenge that I did not experience. When I find myself mystified by a child’s behavior or perspective, I conjure up vivid memories of what it was really like to be a child. Remembering the complexity of my social, emotional and academic experiences helps build a crucial bridge of empathy between myself and my students. My lessons are geared towards older elementary aged students who are mostly in the general education setting, as those are the children…
Why and How Do Pediatric Occupational Therapists Play Games?
Why do pediatric occupational therapists (OTs) play games? Pediatric therapist are often asked why we spend time “just” playing games with our clients. In addition to being engaging to children, games are powerful tools through which we work on a variety of skills including fine motor, visual-motor, gross motor, strength, social, emotional, sensory, and attention, planning and other executive functioning skills. OTs are experts in adapting games to fit a child’s goals. A competent occupational therapist will never “just play” a game with a child. The game itself and many aspects of the game’s set-up will be consciously chosen and adapted on a minute by minute basis so as to support the child’s…
Bringing Home Baby Without Breaking Your Body – How to protect your joints when you have arthritis and a new baby
Despite infants’ diminutive size and stature, caring for a new baby is a very physical job! Many new parents and caregivers experience joint or muscle pain after repetitive stress caused by lifting, carrying, diapering, and holding their baby. It’s estimated that between 25-50% of new parents experience DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis (or “Mommy thumb”) alone. It is also common to have pain in other areas such as the wrists, shoulders and back. These issues are of course exacerbated by chronic underlying illnesses such as autoimmune arthritis. From my experiences as a new mom with rheumatoid arthritis and from my training as an occupational therapist, I would like to share tips on my…
The Role of Facebook Communities in Social Participation for Persons with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Content Analysis
Research overview & summary My colleague Kristin Jones, OTR/L and I conducted the following qualitative research. It details the most frequent topics of conversation for persons with rheumatoid arthritis who engage in disease-specific Facebook groups. My experiences as a patient participating in these groups inspired this research. In order to objectively assess the communication content of these social media groups, Ms. Jones and I performed the data analysis seen below in the data overview section. The poster is pasted below and can also be found at SlideShare. Research poster Significant Findings 1. The majority of Facebook group posts served to provide information or support. Information was provided most often in the form of advice…
10 Years with Rheumatoid Arthritis: What’s the Impact?
I recently realized that I have lived with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for ten years, or roughly a third of my life! In that time I’ve graduated college, traveled to 12 different countries, lived in 3 states, traveled to/through over 15 states, started swing dancing, adopted 2 kittens, earned a Masters degree in occupational therapy, got married, bought a house, and more. I’ve also spent a considerable amount of time and money managing this chronic illness and mitigating it’s effects so I can live with the best quality of life possible. In honor of my diagnosis anniversary, I’d like to share how RA has (and hasn’t) affected my life over the…
Arthritis Humor and the Therapeutic Powers of Laughter and Social Media
Last week I started a GIF based Tumblr blog called “Arthritis Humor.“ My goal for this blog is to help patients with autoimmune arthritis (and other chronic illnesses) transcend their experiences via humor, and feel less alone by connecting to others through shared laughter. Why find the humor in arthritis? As a healthcare professional and patient, I will concede that there is nothing intrinsically funny about either category of arthritis: osteoarthritis (“wear and tear” arthritis, the kind associated with aging) or autoimmune arthritis forms such as rheumatoid arthritis (whereby one’s own immune system mistakenly attacks the lining of one’s joints and other body systems as well). However, as a patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), I believe…
How hard is it to learn swing dancing, and how can instructors best meet the unique needs of beginning dancers? Part 2 (of 2).
First of all, thank you all for your responses to Part 1, in which I explored the challenges of learning partner dance from the new student’s perspective. I was heartened to learn that so many others are passionate about beginning dancers! In this post, I will share my humble recommendations for the introductory/beginning dance teacher. These are outlined in the table below. Please note that I am focusing mainly on month-long introductory classes, not necessarily ½-hour “drop-in” classes. Recommendation 1: Apply motor learning principles. Motor learning is the process by which your ability to move in specific ways improves semi-permanently through repetition and practice. It’s colloquially known as “muscle memory.” The…