EmbrASD: Android Mobile Application for Children with Autism as a Supplemental Tool for Therapy

Autism has a very wide range that influences people, specifically children in general. Usually, it affects a child’s social interaction, communication, behaviors, and interests. Providing a complete device for treatment which is planned to be used by kids with autism needs to be taken into consideration. There is no software available that will adhere to the main areas of autism. The development a multidimensional software that focuses the main areas of kids with autism was a specific goal that the paper is being addressed. It is planned from the viewpoint of several specialists: more particularly speech therapist, occupational therapist, Special Education (SPED) educator and an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) specialist. The specialists’ focused objectives were lengthily included into the planning of the software. The development of an application for the young with autism that would completely attend to all the main areas that are initiated by autism and serves as an addendum to treatment is the primary goal of the study. Interviews from, speech therapist, occupational therapist, SPED teacher, ABA therapist and a SPED therapist will serve as a basis and the prototyping methodology for system development. With the implemented system, the intended users gave an approval on the application to be integrated in the teaching of children with autism. Suggestions on the improvement of the application comprises of including video recording for API 22, implementing the system in the iOS environment, and concentration on older autism cases were recommended.

Social Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence and the Therapeutic Relationship among Clinical Occupational Therapist

Social and emotional intelligence has understood their own and other's feelings and reactions according to their needs. The therapeutic relationship, which considered as a foundational concept among occupational therapy practitioners, which refers to establish rapport with the patient and the therapist to understand the patient's needs and set the goal respectively. To determine the relationship between social intelligence (SI), emotional intelligence (EI) and therapeutic relationship (TR) among clinical occupational therapists. The study used quantitative non-experimental correlational design. Eighty participants recruited from eight hospitals in Riyadh. Data conducted using a closed-ended questionnaire. It contains several questions in social intelligence (MESI), emotional intelligence (Assessing emotional scale), and therapeutic relationship between them (STAR). The questionnaire distributed to clinical occupational therapists in the form of an electronic questionnaire to facilitate the data collection process. The results releveled that there was a significant relationship in social intelligence, emotional intelligence and therapeutic relationship among clinical occupational therapists (p = < 0.05). Future study needs to provide the awareness of social intelligence, emotional intelligence and therapeutic relationship among clinical occupational therapist. Key words: social intelligence, emotional intelligence, therapeutic relationship, clinical occupational therapist.

Stroke unities: the role of the occupational therapist and the perception of the multidisciplinary team

Every second a person in the world suffers from a stroke, not surprising, therefore, that stroke is the leading cause of death and morbidity in Portugal. Increasingly, acute stroke is considered a medical emergency. The evidence proves that the treatment of these patients in specialized units (stroke units) is effective in acute stroke. A stroke unit is a hospital area where professionals with specific, well-defined training work, who provide care to stroke patients who are already stabilized, but are still in an acute phase(DGS, 2001). The aim of this study is to understand the role of the occupational therapist in stroke units and to identify the perspective of the multidisciplinary team on their work, clarifying what are the advantages of this professional in the team. The study falls within the qualitative paradigm, exploratory and descriptive. Semi-structured interviews were performed to 39 health professionals. The technique used was the content analysis of interviews. Based on previously established categories, other categories emerged.

“Vamos te levar no ponto mais alto daqui”: conhecendo ações da terapia ocupacional com crianças/"We'll take you to the highest point here": knowing occupational therapy actions with children

Objetivo: Este ensaio fotográfico propõe pensarmos as práticas com as crianças nos mais diversos territórios, em diálogos constantes com suas realidades e contextos. Descrição da imagem: é trazida uma imagem de duas crianças numa comunidade urbana e a interlocução com a terapeuta ocupacional, em que mostram seus espaços de significado e de sentidos, em meio ao território, e nos fazem repensar, juntamente com as demais imagens ao longo do texto, as ações territoriais e práticas com crianças a partir e em diálogo com suas realidades e a produção das imagens por elas como apropriação do espaço.Palavras-chave: Criança. Fotografia. Terapia Ocupacional AbstractObjective: this photo essay proposes to think about the practices with children in the most diverse territories, in constant dialogues with their realities and contexts. Image description: An image of two children in an urban community is brought and the dialogue with the occupational therapist, in which they show their spaces of meaning and meanings in the middle of the territory and make us rethink, together with the other images throughout the text, the territorial and practical actions with children from and in dialogue with their realities and the production of images by them as appropriation of space.Keywords: Children. Photography. Occupational Therapy ResumenObjetivo: este ensayo fotográfico propone pensar las prácticas con los niños en los más diversos territorios, en diálogos constantes con sus realidades y contextos. Descripción de la imagen: se trae una imagen de dos niños en una comunidad urbana y el diálogo con el terapeuta ocupacional, en el que muestran sus espacios de significado y significados en medio del territorio y nos hacen repensar, junto con las otras imágenes a lo largo del texto, las acciones territoriales y prácticas con los niños desde y en diálogo con sus realidades y la producción de imágenes por ellos como apropiación del espacio.Palavras Clave: Niños y Niñas. Fotografía. Terapia Ocupacional

The Effect of Oral Motor Therapy on Feeding Difficulties and Eating Behaviors in Younger ASD Children

Background: A variety of feeding difficulties like aversion of food, food selectivity, complete food refusal are the most common problems reported by the Parents of ASD children. Every parent of ASD children struggles to manage their child’s feeding routine as well as undesirable mealtime behaviours, which can cause parental concern and poor family dynamics. Aim: 1) The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of dedicated oral motor work in children with ASD who presented with feeding difficulty. 2) To determine parental concerns related to feeding behavior shown by their child and assess whether an additional home program in parallel with oral motor work by an Occupational Therapist would provide any benefits. Methods: This is a pre and post study where a total number of 18 ASD children at the age of 2-4 year old were participated and selected through BPFAS, out of which 15 copies were considered to be concerned with the oral motor and feeding difficulties of the child. Therefore, 15 participants who were facing feeding difficulties with their children were recruited. Concerned Participants were further assessed by Occupational therapist with the help of ‘The com deall Oro-motor assessment scale for toddlers’. Results: According to The Com Deall Oral-motor assessment scale, some changes observed in the oral motor skills and When parental concern is considered via home plan including mealtime strategies with oral motor activities, the post intervention result showed decrease in Total problem score as well as in Total frequency score. Conclusion: The study concluded that continuous structured direct oral motor work as well as addressing parental concerns via home programs is helpful for the ASD children and gives better understanding of feeding difficulties to their parents. Also, some changes have been seen in oral motor skills through continuous practice of oral motor activities by the therapist.

INTEGRATING SPIRITUALITY AS A DOMAIN OF PRACTICE IN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY IN INDIA: INDIAN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS' PERSPECTIVES.

INTRODUCTION: Spirituality has risen as of considerable recent interest in occupational therapy. Spirituality and occupational therapy is associated with the holistic, person centred approach to care in order to restore a sense of well-being and recognise individual coping strategies. Despite current global economic challenges and healthcare recongurations, there appears to be a professional drive not to return to a reductionist model of care delivery. The purpose of the study is to understand views of Occupational therapist on integrating spirituality in Occupational Therapy practice in India. OBJECTIVE: This qualitative pilot study endeavoured to understand views of Occupational Therapist on integrating spirituality as a domain of practice in Occupational Therapy in India. STUDYDESIGN:The study design of this study is a cross-sectional, qualitative narrative study design. METHOD: The qualitative descriptive study included twenty participants (n=20) who are expert in the eld of Occupational Therapy (Age mean ± SD 44 ± 9.88, in Years) with major inclusion criteria of minimal ten years' experience, were recruited for this study by using non-probability convenient and snow ball sampling method. The study was conducted with Occupational Therapist working in private and public sectors in India. The in-depth semi-structured interviews with senior Occupational Therapists were conducted to explore themes which covered views of Occupational Therapist on Spirituality as a domain of practice in Occupational Therapy in India RESULT: The themes which are generated as result of this study highlight the views of Occupational Therapists on integration of spirituality as domain of practice in occupational therapy in India. CONCLUSION:This study explored the current practices of spirituality as domain in occupational therapy in India.

Barriers to Community Integration for Older People in Malaysia: A Qualitative Study from Occupational Therapist Perspectives

Introduction Existing research has addressed the importance of community integration (CI) and its benefits of dwelling in a community but has yet to address the methods and efficiency of improving these activities among older people. Thus, it is vital to understand how healthcare workers can integrate the benefits of CI among older people, especially with the use of occupational therapists (OTs). The latter are actively working to improve ageing individuals mobility within the community. Objective This study aims to identify Malaysian OTs’ perspectives on CI’s and its implication on older people. Method Occupational therapist from different states of Malaysia participated in a semi-structured interview, through a virtual medium (Zoom Cloud Meetings). The interview guide encapsulated the theory of critical incident technique (CIT). Results Thematic content analysis, over fourteen participants from 13 states of Malaysia, provided insights into CI’s barriers for older people in Malaysia. The findings revealed that multifaceted factors from an individual, organisational and socio-environmental perspective limit older people’s active CI engagement. Conclusion South-East Asia hierarchal and collectivist culture play a significant role in influencing all factors of CI. OTs must understand and incorporate appropriate cultural norms during CI practice development for the older population in Malaysia.