Following on from our blog about Lien arranging her work experience at bOunceT all the way from Belgium, I wanted to update you about her time with us!
I really want to say thank you. It was so nice and I'm really grateful that I could visit your amazing organisation and country!
Lien came over to volunteer as an Occupational Therapy student at bOunceT for 1 week. Throughout her time here, Lien was able to get involved in some therapeutic play activities and rebound therapy sessions, in addition to seeing some classroom observations and assessments (including the Sensory Profile 2).
Lien reflects on her experience working with us:
"I think the whole team is doing such an amazing job! I was also really impressed by one of the OT's running a session with K, I remember thinking 'that's the kind of OT I wanna become!'. I think that's my overall impression of your organisation. The concept is so innovative and widely applicable. I think that it should not only be me thinking 'I want to be this kind of OT', but that there should be more of this kind of occupational therapy in general!"
"Also the focus on purposeful play was so interesting! I never knew about an OT that was so focused on this and I think it is definitely something more people need to understand."
Before starting work, as Lien had never been over to Scotland before, she wanted to explore some of the main tourist spots before she started working on the Monday. Lien spent the weekend travelling to both Glasgow and Edinburgh, then spent some time walking around the historic streets of Stirling!...after her mandatory COVID testing of course!
Lien spent her first day reading a lot about us [as a service, our interventions] and OT things related to this clinical practice area. This included, but was not limited to, sensory integration, positive behaviour strategies, risk assessments, conditions and impact on occupational performance & outcome measures/assessments.
"In the morning I received some information and 'learning material' that I could go through. In the afternoon there was one therapy planned, a 4-year-old boy. It was really very interesting and during the therapy explanations were given almost non-stop. In this way you also learn a lot about the thinking pattern that is behind it and not only about the actions that are performed."
As the week progressed, Lien made sure to update her own personal blog daily. Here, she reflected on what she saw us do with families & what else we explained to her that we can do to support them, and other families.
"The therapy rooms and thought patterns they possess are nothing short of admirable. Also the flexibility they show during therapy, when it turns out that the child is not able to do it at that moment and they therefore have to change the entire therapy plan."
I feel like I've been able to learn a lot in two days, even though I haven't seen that many therapy sessions yet.
Half way through the week, Lien took control of her Uni's instagram account to post content about her experience in Scotland [for other students and teaching staff to see what she was up to]
Twice throughout the week, I was able to take Lien into some rebound therapy sessions at Scottish Autism's New Struan School.
She thought this was a great space for the children and young people to learn - where she is from there are not the same types of schools/ support systems in place. So, this was a very interesting and eye#opening learning experience for her!
On a similar thread, Lien was able to shadow me doing some OT observations in 2 different classrooms (at another school - as part of an ongoing assessment re: pupils sensory needs + providing strategies to teachers). Lien and I discussed the Sensory Profile 2 and other assessments/outcomes measures. Again, this was all new to Lien so you could see she was processing a lot of information and fitting bits of OT tools and clinical reasoning into her head!
By the end of the week, we needed time out of the office and in the fresh air to catch up and reflect.
I took Lien to University of Stirling where there are beautiful walks and lots of other things to do on campus! We grabbed a coffee and hot chocolate + walked/chatted for 1 hour.
In the middle of the campus there is a beautiful, big lake! As far as your eye could reach, you saw green scenery and buildings on campus/ hills in the background and students enjoying themselves. What a great place!
By the end of the week, on Lien's final evening, I took her and some of the bOunceT team out for dinner. We went to Bite East in Stirling (highly recommend). It was a great way to end the week and say goodbye to Lien.
Thank you Lien for coming all the way over here and being part of the team! It was great to have you. I’ll come over to Europe next time!
Keep in touch, Callum :)
[Note: if anyone is interested in coming to shadow/visit us at bOunceT please get in touch to discuss this further - callum@bouncet.com]
