Learning and talking

On my paeds placement in China I was allocated to a room catering for a few conditions such as autism, Down Syndrome, ADHD and cleft palates. On entry I was greeted by blaring music, screaming kids and general mayhem. This was completely out of the ideal working conditions for a therapy room. In the general chaos of the room there was some sort of organised schedule and we managed to see the structure of the class.

From a physiotherapist point of view there was not much to apply in terms of therapy, despite this I actively questioned my fellow OT partner on methods of calming sensory seeking behaviours and encouraging play with autistic kids. I realised that how I was learning which was learning the theory and practical at the same time was so effective. I was able to think of strategies on the spot and apply the theory immediately. I then started to combine PT techniques that worked on balance and gross motor coordination which made more sense as you kill two birds with one stone. In this room the language barrier is most evident, joint with attention deficits made it extremely hard for the child to follow instructions. Being a room full of other kids and blaring music it will naturally be hard for any child to follow instructions. Observing the set up of this room reflects the infancy of the centres practice. What they have already is amazing but again there is much to work on. The staff aren’t even qualified in therapy yet are dedicated to their job. If only I had the language to explain to them techniques to assist the children I would feel more useful. I cant ask them if they know the rationale for the task the children do or if they know of any other techniques or even if they know the condition of the children they’re working with. It shows to me that language is such a powerful tool that can’t be taken out of the equation of communication.