Life happens...even to little people

Their lives in this crazy world have only just begun and for some reason unknown to us, these little people are stuck in their beds surrounded by rails higher then they can jump! It is like the wheel of life is out of sync and turning the wrong way round...it just seems SO unfair! Little people are supposed to find their balance on their feet, take their first steps and explore the world with their innocent eyes...but I guess that is not how everyone’s life story goes.

When I first packed my bags and set out into this frosty old world on my very own, I quickly discovered that life happens...and there is nothing that one can do at the point of “the primary traumatic impact” as our clinical science lecturers would say. It just happens without an explanation without much hesitation, faster than we can blink. For these little people it was a congenital disease, birth defect, a chronic virus or even maternal denial that exacerbated the condition which chained them to their hospital beds. What we can however do as OT’s (as a matter of fact it is our job) is to treat the “secondary causes” of a traumatic, life changing condition through the use of activities!:)  

I have barely set foot into the paediatrics ward to notify the little people about our group when one young, eager eye catches a glimpse of me and pipes up, “Eskoleni!!!” and another joins in, “Aunty Eskoleni Namhlanje!”...and that is all it takes for the little people to win over my heart....

The aim of the paediatrics group at King George Hospital is to enhance or sustain the little peoples fine and gross motor function through social play and activities.

During the month of April everything revolved around Easter, which is why everything we did involved Easter bunnies and eggs...quite a cute theme actually!

Believe you me, structuring a paediatrics group is not as easy as it may sound as things constantly change which means a great deal of flexibility is needed! The little people did not converse much with one another which is why we tried to incorporate social interaction by playing warm up games where they had to say their names when they caught the ball and applied principles such as making them share tools. The first task was listening to some interesting facts about bunnies which was used for educational purposes. Their focus however was fixated largely on the task which was making their very own bunny ear headgear. The oldest member and most talkative member got a great amount of attention during the activity from the others who all copied him. This group benefited the individual members as they learnt lessons and skills from one another plus the activities maintained their fine motor skills by participating in table top activities such as cutting, pasting and colouring. Their gross motor functioning was maintained by ball games, playing catches and musical status. A sense of unison in the group was achieved by wearing their bunny ears and acting like bunnies.  

It was my role as the therapist to lead the group, making sure that they perform the steps of the task as well as leaving enough space for play and creativity. The group should be an important stepping stone for the little people to get a taste of what school is all about. Their skills should be improved or maintained so that when the time is right and they are ready to enter school they will have acquired sufficient knowledge and skill to cope with at school. Another important factor to consider when planning a group like this is taking the little peoples mind off their illnesses. Every child deserved a childhood worth remembering!

 

Group Work within a class full of leaders....is that possible!?

 I have never considered myself a leader because I have always been in academically strong classes with individuals that take over tasks but never to the extend that anybodies input was undermined or suppressed. Every one has a different approach to life which I rate makes life beautiful! What I however felt as soon as I became part of the OT class of 2014 was that an icy breeze of competition pierced the class atmosphere. As it so often happens, birds of a feather flock together and due to our busy schedule we seldom got to converse with the different members in our class!...we did get to see one another’s true colours through the randomly selected group tasks which were assigned to us.

The group project at King George was such a task! We were only three members but oh my goodness, we couldn’t be more different!!!!...three very different personalities, approaches, beliefs and aims collided especially during the time that the group project for the hospital had to be worked on.

 We were given the instructions for the project five or so weeks before it had to be presented. Without further ado, one member immediately took on the role of the leader , another became the coordinator and the third a mutual contributor. The members communicated well, made the effort to attend the meetings planned out and gathered information according to their individual tasks set out by the leader. The one member however took the attributions received from the other members and reformulated them instead of briefing the individuals on how to give it a more professional taste. This resulted in feelings of inadequacy amongst and the members and they would think again before saying or doing anything for the project. We should have been more open about our thoughts and more honest about our feelings by talking about the issue together with all the members instead of just brushing it off which may have contributed toward more efficient group work. On the day of the project presentation one person presented majority of the project which somewhat defeated the object of group work in my eyes. I just hope and pray that the underlying factor of doing it was not an issue of the marks...

I learned a great deal of professionalism from the group as I have a very Laissez – faire yet driven approach. I enjoy learning from others, but also believe in giving others a chance to voice their opinions, taking them seriously...there is ALWAYS room for creativity.

 

Reaching a common goal together with 'different' group memebrs

 

Life is full of different people that are driven by personal goals in order to reach their bigger goal. This we should remember and respect whenever we encounter people on our walk through life. It is vitally important to respect the working approach and the beliefs of others even though they are different to your own.

As future health practitioners it is certain that we will have many encounters with OT's, physios, doctors, speechies, audiologists, nurses, social workers, psychologists etc. from all walks of life, who will have different perspectives on life and on the work we do. We will have to learn to respect them as we need to work together in order to make a difference in peoples lives...we all know that we can not do it alone!...we should rise above our differences and rather work together in making a positive difference in other peoples lives.