When I grow up....

What do you want to be when you grow up? How many times have we all been asked that? About 8000.  Well for a long time I have said that I want to be an occupational therapist. In the last few years, I have thought what kind of OT I want to be when I grow up. Some people want to work with the geriatric population and some people want to work with pediatrics. I want to work with the pediatric population, specifically with special needs. But I want to do more than that. I want to open my own pediatric therapy clinic, specifically designed for children with special needs.

I want the clinic to have an OT, a PT, and a ST. The reason I want to have all three kinds of therapy at the location is because I want them to all be available in a safe and conducive setting for all abilities and because I want to make it easier for the family of the client. Something that I have noticed from working with children who have to have therapy, some days their appointments are in different locations all on the same day making for a hectic and stressful day for clients and their parents.

A goal of the clinic would be to make the therapy experience easy and something that does not add more stress to family than what they already have. One way that would make my clinic different than most therapy clinics is there would be a van that ran to the schools where my clients went to school, to pick up the children from school if needed. Also, once we got the children there, there would be a daycare service that would be ran majority by high school students who are interested in working with kids with special needs or working in therapy. I want high school kids to have the chance to work with kids with special needs and to get to experience with the different kinds of therapy. The “daycare” area would have a variety of activities that could be conducive to the therapy that they are receiving. In this area, there would be some toys that are on the shelves but also some that are interactive when hung on the wall. The ones on the wall would allow children in wheelchairs to be able to access them and play too, instead of just sitting in their chairs. There would also be tables that are different heights to allow for people using any kind of adaptive equipment to be able to use them. I would also love to have a separate low sensory room. In this room, I want there to be things like a sound or music machine and a light machine, that would put things like stars or an ocean scene on the ceiling. I would want there to also be a big beanbag that would allow for some sensory stimulation but would allow for a child who needed the quiet to have a place to go and relax. I would do my best to make sure that kids with a multiple different disabilities could use all the rooms and do my best to insure that their needs would be met. I would want to make sure all of the doorways are wide enough for wheelchairs and that all things are accessible all people. One thing that I would want to have different than most places is I would want the bathroom to be a family bathroom. I would also want the bathroom to be large enough that a wheelchair can turn in a full circle easily and there still be room for somebody else to be in the bathroom. The bathroom would have the safety handrails, automated sink, soap, dryer, and an automated toilet allowing for people with different disabilities to be able to have access to them all.

I would also want there to be a comment box so that if there is something that clients or their parents think that we can improve on then they can let us know. I would do my best to make sure that their needs or desires are met as quickly as possible, especially when they are something that would make their experience better. I would want the entire clinic to be client centered so the client feels like while they are there, in therapy or not, they are the most important person in the clinic.

My dream of opening a clinic is a big and long term dream of mine. I hope that some day, even if my big dream doesn't come true, I am able to make children with special needs feel like they are accepted. I also really want to be able to provide high school students with a way to observe and get experience with children with special needs.