Occupational Therapy News OTNews March 2020 | Page 27

STUDENT EDUCATION FEATURE
Unlocking Potential:
A student’s perspective
I
Occupational therapy student Shayna Mistry shares her experience of
a role emerging placement with the charity Unlocking Potential, and her
thoughts on how this is embedding occupational therapy within schools
am a third year occupational therapy student on placement with
Unlocking Potential. My role in the school’s programme has been
the sole occupational therapy practitioner within a multidisciplinary
team that provides targeted interventions to children.
When I became aware of the nature of this placement, initially
I was overwhelmed by my upcoming responsibilities and the
expectations of me, as I did not believe I would be able to manage a
caseload of 15 to 20 children independently from the first day.
Because of my lack of paediatric experience, and the reality of me
having to deliver assessments and interventions independently, I felt
the need to read and research vigorously in order to prepare myself.
Even though I felt slightly out of my depth when I started, I found
myself settling in quickly and working my way through my caseload
within the first few weeks. I began to feel confident in the occupational
therapy skills I have been equipped with thus far, and attempted not
to overcomplicate my input with the children referred to me.
A qualified occupational therapist is not present within the primary
schools; instead I receive management from a psychotherapist on
site and regular long-arm supervision from an occupational therapy
practice placement educator.
Working within Unlocking Potential I am delivering interventions
that enable me to focus on a client-centred approach. The placement
setting requires me to be self-directed, allowing me to develop my
own intervention plans and advance my clinical reasoning skills,
a fundamental aspect of our professional development as an
occupational therapist.
Long-armed supervision gives me the opportunity to be reflective,
creative and justify my intervention strategies; something that is not
always possible in role-established placements. Having to actively
work through challenges has cemented my learning.
This charity enables children to receive direct and valuable
occupational therapy, where this may have not been available via the
NHS or other local services.
This way of working directly with children and staff means that
teachers can see the benefit that occupational therapy has on the
child. Demonstration through practice proves to be powerful, and
from my experience, the school truly values the service provided.
By working with specific children and teachers I have been able to
develop individualised sensory diets to fit within the children’s school
day and monitor and adjust these as required.
This appears to enable the children to maintain routine, leading
to increased attention, self-regulation and an overall positive learning
environment.
Attempting to reach a balance between occupational therapy
interventions and teaching strategies to support the school’s routine
has proven to be a challenge at times, especially with the increased
pressure that teachers and teaching assistants face.
With my skills in activity analysis and ability to apply this to
the functional level of the child, I am able to produce appropriate
strategies to enhance performance in the children. This is a core skill
for occupational therapists that teaching staff may lack, which is often
a barrier to implementing advice from occupational therapists.
The school I am based in has developed a behaviour and
support plan for one of the children on my caseload that seamlessly
incorporates the suggested sensory strategies as a part of this child’s
intervention plan, which may not have been possible without the
presence of an occupational therapy role.
This further exemplifies the feeling of being part of the team and
making a positive contribution to the school.
Being within the school has also given me the opportunity to work
collaboratively with the Brent Outreach Autism Team, to support
high priority children who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum
disorder (ASD). This has given me the chance to collaborate with
other professionals to assist with the children’s development from an
occupation-based perspective, along with developing my knowledge
of ASD.
Unlocking Potential has provided me with a vast amount of
knowledge, skill and ontological development.
Despite my initial hesitation in this role emerging placement, I
believe I have enhanced my professional identity through critical
thinking and reflection on my practice and my autonomous service
delivery skills.
It has also increased my self-confidence, as I feel I have made
a positive impact on the school, as well as being seen as an
occupational therapist in my own right, through being respected and
valued as a member of the team. All this places me in better position
for transitioning into a qualified occupational therapist.
Shayna Mistry, final year occupational therapy student, Oxford
Brookes University
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