Hello everyone
I wanted to write a blog introducing myself! My name is James Whitney and I have recently joined the Maryland Department of Disabilities Assistive Technology Program as an assistive technology (AT) clinician. First – a little background about myself: I hail from Salisbury, MD. I received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Salisbury University. About halfway through this degree I thought to myself: “how am I going to use this psych degree?” I was unsure how I should apply it: to further my education or try and start a career? (school doesn’t answer this question for you). After some research I found the field of Occupational Therapy to be quite fitting for my goals and my interests in the ‘human being’ both mentally and physically. I began taking the prerequisites necessary and the GRE and blah blah blah to apply to programs and eventually got accepted to Virginia Commonwealth University’s Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program (I graduate May 9th of this year).
For those of us who have NOT heard of occupational therapy (OT) let me describe it for you: OT is a part of the allied health therapy field that physical therapy and speech-language pathology are also a part of. OT focuses on treating injured, ill, or disabled patients through the therapeutic use of everyday activities to help patients develop, recover, improve, as well as maintain the skills needed for daily living and working. So how does a psychology and an occupational therapy degree qualify me to be an assistive technology clinician? During an OT evaluation, therapists will: ask the patient what their goals are, run objective assessments to measure what their abilities / deficits are, and develop a plan to assist the patient in meeting their goals. This process is very similar to an AT consultation which includes: talking with the patient to find out more about their unique lifestyle, their goals, their abilities / disabilities, and then finding an AT device to help them better meet their needs! As I have seen in my classroom education and hands-on clinical experiences quite often in OT sessions AT devices are used to increase an individual’s ability to participate in these daily activities. For example, if someone is having trouble getting dressed a therapy session might include practicing dressing techniques and incorporating AT devices to assist this activity i.e. dressing stick, sock donning device, long handled shoehorn, etc. (these are low-tech examples of AT). AT devices can also help an individual meet a variety of goals e.g.: accessing a computer, communicating with others, writing with pen and paper, compensating for deaf / hard of hearing or low-vision deficits to assist the individual in performing daily activities. OT and AT often go hand-in-hand and my background will allow me to be able to assist future clients to find the appropriate technology to meet their needs to allow them to better reach their goals and complete their daily activities.
I look forward to continuing to grow my personal knowledge of assistive technology, disabilities, compensatory techniques, and to use my expertise to increase Maryland residents with disabilities and our aging population’s access to AT. Stay tuned for more blogs by yours truly sharing my experience as an AT clinician, new articles, devices, stories, learning opportunities, community outreach opportunities and any/all things AT!
