Happy OT Month!

Hooray! It’s Occupational Therapy Awareness Month! Here at Enabling Devices, we’re all about celebrating the amazing work of these dedicated professionals. We thought we’d take this opportunity to explore the field and learn more about what makes these very special people tick. What are the qualities necessary to have a successful career as an OT? What training is involved? To get some answers, we talked with pediatric occupational therapist Jennifer Wingrat, OTR-L, ScD, who works in the acclaimed Child and Family Support Program (CFSD) at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

Enabling Devices: What made you decide to go into this field?

Jennifer Wingrat: I fell into it when I was a senior in high school. I was doing my senior project at an OT hand clinic. I liked working with the patients, making splints, helping people to live to their potential. I’ve been practicing for at least 20 years! In the past I’ve worked with different [populations]—people with spinal cord injuries, general pediatrics and others.

Nowadays you work with children. What’s that like?

I’ve always liked working with kids and I took that track in OT school. Now, I work in an early intervention program and most of the treatment is done in the patients’ homes. It’s a lot of fun.

Who are the children served by the program?

The children we see have a range of disabilities—cerebral palsy, genetic disorders, Down syndrome, developmental delays, mostly physical disabilities.

 The families we work with are the neediest families in Baltimore. Ninety-seven percent of them are on medical assistance. They have so many environmental stressors. When parents are invested it makes a huge difference.

What kinds of services do you provide?

I work a lot with the parents teaching them how to play and interact with their children. It’s anything from teaching a baby to shake a rattle and self-care skills like feeding, dressing, holding a crayon… When kids have physical disabilities, we may help them to control their movements and get around the house more efficiently. There’s a lot of adapting their environment… We’re teaching them to develop skills that most kids develop on their own.

Do toys play a role?

Adapted toys are invaluable for these kids. Some of them need switch-adapted toys.

A lot of times I’ll go into a home and there are no toys, so the child may not know how to play. If there are no toys, we’ll work with what they have. We also have a toy lending library so we might bring a couple of toys when we visit, leave them for a couple of weeks, then switch them out for new toys.

What are the qualities that a good OT need to have?

Creativity, flexibility, the ability to empathize, and to interact with all different kinds of people —people of different cultures, socioeconomic classes…

What kind of training do OTs need?

I have a doctorate but that’s not necessary for the work I do. OTs need to have a master’s degree. There are also OT assistants, who have two-year degrees from community colleges. They are wonderful members of a [multidisciplinary] team. Assistants can do treatment but not assessments or evaluations.

You work with families who are really struggling. How do you prevent burn-out?

Sometimes it is sad. I try to focus on the successes and to know that even the littlest help that I can provide is improving lives.

What would you tell people considering a career as an OT?

It’s a great field with huge demand. You can work with people of all ages, it pays well and you will always have a job.