Neuro Media Project

 For my media project in my neuro class, I was assigned index cards to use as an intervention or adaptive device for my client who has transverse myelitis. My client was mainly functional with his upper extremities but had decreased strength and range of motion in his lower extremities. I’d be lying if I said it was easy to come up with something to do with index cards and that it didn’t take me more than a couple of days, especially when it was for the lower extremities.

This project made me realize how seemingly mundane things can become really useful for therapy with a little bit of creativity. While it took me a decent amount of time to come up with an idea, even with asking others for help, I eventually just had to really sit down and think about what would be useful and meaningful for my client, and then incorporate index cards into that. I ended up making a game out of it that my client could do laying down, in a gravity eliminated position for leg flexion and extension, where he could match the cards to each other. Since my client is a big sports fan, especially hockey and basketball, I chose to write team names on one set of cards and their corresponding cities on another set of cards. If I were to set up this activity, I would arrange the cards around his legs on the floor or a bed, and then have him move his legs to each card to match them with another.

Doing this project reinforced how important it is to be client centered as an occupational therapist. In the beginning, I kept trying to think of how I could use index cards for my client and I was coming up short, however, when I looked at what was important for him, it was a lot easier for me to figure out how to include index cards into that. In the future, this assignment will remind to be creative when I may not have much to use for therapy. Truly any object can be used as an intervention or turned into an adaptive device, no matter how mundane it is. With a little bit of creativity and an understanding for your client’s needs, something as simple as an index card can be turned into something so meaningful.