Marsaskala

Who would have thought I would spend my first day on placement playing in a ball pool and the rest of the week looking for new toys and equipment!
The facilities here are pretty amazing. As well as a fully equipped gym, a 25m swimming pool, and horse riding facilities there are 3 multi-sensory rooms. One for soft play to develop coordination and balance. A dark room for sensory stimulation through tactile and visual input, and a white or quiet room for calm and relaxation. Some of the week was spent observing children (School Out reach Programme) at play in the rooms with their Learning support assistants (LSA). Some of the clients (Adults with LD) can be encouraged to join in team activities such as a treasure hunt or obstacle courses. It was fun planning and setting up a course with varying degrees of difficulty so all the group could take part, including myself and Grace!
Most of the clients have some degree of Autism. So lots of research required to learn about how to relate to children with this condition to help them develop. Other conditions include Downs Syndrome and Cerebral palsy.
As well as the LSA accompanying the children there are numerous volunteers, which can make it difficult to interact with the client on a 1:1 basis. Not quite sure yet of the OT involvement or role with the children from the SOP so will see how this develops.
Overall it has been a very easy week, with only 7 hours contact time with clients at play in the MSR. Regular breaks and early finish times seem to be encouraged here. As I am used to a much faster and busier pace of work adjusting to this relaxed approach is a novelty. This has allowed the opportunity for research into interventions I am unfamiliar with such as therapeutic horse riding. I am looking forward to formulating a better understanding of the role of Occupational Therapy at Inspire and getting my own caseload.Read more