I've just finished attending the first day of the 87th annual AOTA conference. President Baum acknowledged many different groups within the association prior to the keynote address. Did you know that the Representative Assembly and ASAP are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. She identified that this event rekindles our passion annually for our profession and I couldn't agree more. I have to tell you about the keynote address. I had previously written about the book Blood Brothers by Michael Weisskopf. Tonight was an amazing keynote address. It was wonderful to see "Captain Katie" introduce Michael Weisskopf and she shared a video she had created to tell her story about occupational therapy. Weisskopf calls Captain Katie the Princess of Pragamatism.....I think this is a title that would most likely be appropriate (but Prince for males on our profession) for all OT professionals. Weisskopf discussed his challenges in engaging in daily activities and how occupational therapy was there to assist him in dealing with these daily challenges. I've mentioned my favorite keynote in the past was Gene Siskell in Chicago many years ago, but now he's in good company with Weisskopf.
There are an AMAZING amount of students this year at conference. In one session I attended on Photovoice this morning it was filled with 50% of students. How wonderful to have people so excited and eager to learn more and soon enter our profession! So as I sit here in the hotel lobby, I'm joined by my fellow mental health practitioners, colleagues, and friends.....Lisa Mahaffey, Brian Holmquist, Cindy Hahn and Mike Fredrickson. We are having a great time discussing an upcoming MHSIS quarterly column, look forward to it. We are also discussing the MHSIS educational session today on supportive education. I very much enjoyed attending this session and found myself sitting in this session thinking about all the individuals within my university setting I could collaborate with to make this a reality at my university.
Lastly, we are having a lively discussion about the paper presented by Moya Kinnealey and Kristie Koenig on the relationship between sensory processing, social supports and quality of life in adults with sensory processing disorders. Brian feels that it is difficult to tease out the sensory aspects from anxiety, can't people with anxiety disorders benefit from OT without
Frank Pascarelli just joined us and is sharing about his experiences about recently breaking his foot, he's recovered now but isn't going to run in the SIS fun run tomorrow, but Lisa Mahaffey is :O). See the lobby is where you need to hang out when you come to conference because there are all kinds of informal networking opportunities outside of all the educational sessions. Well it is 12:03 am and President Baum's farewell address will be early tomorrow. I'll give an update tomorrow or Sunday! Stay tuned! HAPPY OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY MONTH and start saving your money so you can attend the 88th AOTA conference in Long Beach, CA next year and join us in the lobby. Christine
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