Researching...

While researching for my paper, I found this article about a new software made for mobile devices that makes it quick and simple for physical therapist to document patent's information. http://www.dashboardinsight.com/sponsored-articles/hands-on-technology-delivers-mobile-physical-therapy-documentation-software-with-componentone-flexgrid-for-mobile-devices.aspx

Before software like this was available, documentation would have to be done by hand and written during or after working with a patient, and most of the time it would be typed up later by someone. This is a waste of time and a risk of transcript errors. The designers of this product searched desktop software to find a way to back up the information to save it. Physical Therapists are able to put a full days worth of documentation on the Pocket PC, and reduce note-taking time by five minutes a note.

Cheer Weekend!

On Friday morning, I left for Virginia with my cheerleading team for our final national competition. Over the weekend the team learned some valuable lessons. There has always been drama on our team and I finally realized that our team would never be performing to our full potential while this was going on. On the first day of the competition, which was just to see if you qualify for the second day, we received second place.

Frustrated!!!

Well, first of all this is the first blog that I have written this week and my paperwork is supposed to be turned in today, which I know is my fault, so I'm really just frustrated with myself. Some weeks, like last week, I get a good start on blogging or jounaling and I'm set for the week, but this week I didn't go to my sponsor, so I didn't have much to start off with. The reason I haven't gone to my sponsor is because the first time I visited her, she told me to come on Mondays at 2:30 because that is when she gets back from lunch break. I can't go at that time anymore because I have softball practice after school. I tried calling to set up another day and time to visit, but I left a message for them to get back to me. I called again today and spoke with Lisa, the receptionist and she told me Carol's hours and said that she would have Carol call me to set up a day and time to meet. She still hasn't called me back, so I don't know whether I should just go one of the day on my own or wait to talk to her.

WDHS

This morning during first and second period, I went to West Deptford High School, where my cousin, Lisa, goes to school, to observe her Physical Therapist. I met her in the front of the building and her aid took me to the office to get a visitor's pass, but the lady at the front desk said I wasn't allowed to be there. I thought I was going to have to leave but her aid said that i can just wait for Linda, the physical therapist and go in with her. So, atleast I was able to stay. We went down to the nurse's office to use one of the beds so that Linda could stretch Lisa. As I mentioned in one of my other blogs, lisa recently had surgery done to her feet to stretch her tendons and it is extremely important that they are stretched often, because if not the surgery could be reversed and made way worse.

Therapeutic Horseback Riding

http://www.raiseyourdreamsfarm.com/Therapeutic.htm

This weekend, I visited my cousin Lisa's house. She has Cerebral Palsy, a disorder that causes her not to walk. Because of this, she is doing a variety of physical therapy, one of which is called Hippotherapy. Hippotherapy is a form of physical therapy that involves doing the therapy on horses. According to the American Hippotherapy Association, the therapeutic benefits of the horse were recognized as early as 460 BC. While with my cousin Lisa, she described her experience of doing Hippotherapy with her physical therapist, Linda. Lisa said that she enjoyed doing the therapy on the horse versus doing it on a mat because the horse made the session more fun, and made her feel like she really was not doing therapy at all. I believe that Hippotherapy should be used more because it could eliminate the aspect the doing hard work; especially for younger kids. Hippotherapy is rapidly becoming more popular in the physical therapy field. I predict that within a couple years, Hippotherapy will be the most practiced treatment in the world of physical therapy.

School #4

Today, right after 3rd period, me and Sam went to School 4. We were only planning to stay during 4th period, which is our gym period, but we ended up staying there until 8th period. It was just so hard to leave those cute little kids. At first, I thought that I might not be welcomed, only because I didn't have a chance to contact the Physical Therapist before I showed up. My prediction was wrong. All the teachers I met, were very happy to have me and Sam there. When I first got there, Judy was working with two little girls. The one girl recently got surgery on her feet so that her feet would have the ability to stay flat on the floor to make it easier for her to walk. This surgery is very similar to the surgery that my cousin just got done. They stretched the tendons in her foot so that she can have more flexibility in it.

Later, Judy worked with a boy in Preschool who had a disorder that causes his body to get rid of the carbohydrates. We did different activities where I threw the ball to him and she helped him catch it and then told him to throw it back to me. After that, she told him to walk towards me and he walked back and forth a few times. Afterwards, we went back to her therapy room and she showed me the paperwork she has to fill out to record the progress the students have made. Judy told me that he has made a lot of progress and he will probably be able to walk on his own by next year.