Occupation Therapists

A Day in the Life

Your time as an occupational therapist, or OT, is spent helping individuals who have mental, physical or emotional disabilities to live happy, independent lives. Before you begin your hands-on work for the day, you drop by the social services facility where you are employed. You check in with your supervisor to let her know what your schedule is like for the day. She asks you about your workload and lets you know that you'll be getting a new client next week.

After you gather your client folders for the day, you head to your first client's home. A father of three, he lost the use of one arm in an industrial accident. When you arrive at his house, you spend some time talking to him to see what tasks that he feels comfortable completing and what tasks he still finds difficult. He tells you that he's mastered self hygiene but is unable to help with his infant son. You use a doll to help him practice changing diapers, feeding the baby and picking the baby up. You let your client know that you both can continue working on these skills when you return next week.

Your next client is a young woman who suffers from cerebral palsy. She is extremely intelligent but is struggling with continual loss of movement. This is your first meeting with this patient, so you take time to get to know her. You talk with her about her daily challenges and start to work out a therapy plan. You'll finish your plan over the next few days and will review it with her when you begin hands-on work next week.

You take a lunch break before heading to your next appointment. In the afternoon, you work with an elderly woman who is suffering from memory loss and a young man who suffers from anxiety problems. You help both of these clients learn how to navigate daily challenges. When working with the young man, you focus on how he can overcome problems in the workplace so that he can succeed in his chosen field.

At the end of the day, you return to your office and update all client paperwork. You look over the next day's schedule and place the files that you'll need in a separate drawer. Before you head home, you lock up all client files and check in with your boss again. You go and enjoy a relaxing evening so that you're ready to head back to work tomorrow.