What the heck is occupational therapy?

Since the average person doesn't have an exceptional knowledge base of occupational therapy (OT), I thought I would enlighten you.

(Not that you're average. You're totally above average.)

We had to write an OT definition and make a fancy little "calling card" for class the other day. This is what I came up with:

Now that still may not totally clear things up for you.
So let's break it down even further.

You can't understand occupational therapy until you understand what we mean by the word "occupation." Because *news flash* it's means more than just your job!

Occupation is defined as anything you do that occupies your time. Typically, any occupation will fall into one of these three categories: work, leisure, and self-care. Occupations are the daily and meaningful activities of your life. Here's some occupation examples of my life: being a student, running, cooking, being involved in a church, flossing, etc.

Sometimes people lose the ability to do some of their occupations. 

And that's where OT comes in!


We, as OTs, enable people who have some kind of injury or special need and help them either relearn their occupations or learn a new way to do an old occupation or discover a new occupation that better matches their abilities.

Here's some examples of what we can do! We can help:

 - stroke victims regain strength and independence so they can return home.
 - children with developmental delays catch up to the functional abilities of their age group
 - people with an amputated limb learn how to function at home or work or participate in sports or other leisure activities
 - organizations make their environment more accommodating to those with special needs

That is just the tip of iceberg! OTs work in hospitals, rehab centers, outpatient clinics, schools, nursing care facilities, and home health services -- to name a few. OT is super broad which is one of the main reasons I love it.

Hope this helps your understanding of OT! Feel free to ask questions!