Bystander

The other day I was sitting eating my lunch on my steps by my classroom trying to tune out the children playing around me. However, right in front of me I started to notice an altercation between two preschool students. One wanted to pass between two particular cones, the other child was blocking. I thought, they'll work it out, the other kid can just go around. That is not what happened though. The child trying to pass starting pushing back on the other child. At that point, in retrospect, I should have said something. The kid blocking the cones pushed back and the other one fell. At that point another teacher noticed and disciplined the two students. She then turned to me and frowned and walked away. Whoops.

As I am around little people all day, I realize that as an adult I have a responsibility for all the children in my field of vision. I am learning that it is my duty to keep all children safe from harm whether that be from each other, themselves, or the obstacles around them.

Another byproduct of that is that when I see children in public space I have to stop myself from wanting to intervene. Sometimes, it is when a parent is mistreating a child or is allowing unsafe behavior carry on.

"Hot Case" and a student

I heard about "hot cases" in the school system, but have yet to be privileged enough with one of my own. Hot case, is code for parents of a child you are treating or one that want you to treat is threatening to get lawyers. It is a very high profile case that has everyone stressed out and worried. At first, I was excited, wow my first hot case. I get to explain everything I'm doing and why. I feel like a real specialist. However, it reared it's ugly head when the principle was stressed out that I decided not to assess the little guy, especially when his mom wanted me to. Ok, to save everyone the headache it turns out I can assess him. My boss and I thought, if he's not in special education then he won't qualify for OT services, which is true. So it's a waste of time to assess, but I have to do it anyway. The rules change for a parent who is demanding and threatening to sue.

This week I also took on a college graduate that is gaining hours to apply for OT school. It's fun to explain everything. You know what they say, "you learn it better when you have to teach it". I hear myself talking about sensory integration, developmental milestones, OT in the schools, how I plan my treatments, etc. I've found that I learned a lot about OT in past few years.