How Two Letters Can Spell Hero
๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ. ๐
๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐.
Many medical heroes have been celebrated these past few weeks and I want to remember the therapists among them. This is my friend Sam and she is an Occupational Therapist.
When the words dysgraphia and dyslexia came into my daily lexicon, I was scared. When attention deficit was added to that, I was terrified. How could the children I find to be so perfect struggle doing seemingly simple tasks? And how could I help them with something that brought me such fear?
An Occupation in Therapy
Enter OT. If you have a differential thinker, these two letters likely dominate your schedule, as well. The differences these professionals have made in the lives of my children, in my life is immeasurable. Today I celebrate those who understand how bouncing and swinging calm, that cursive is easier than printing and all the other ingenious entry points for our genius children.
But there are many ways that occupational therapy can help. Sam works with folks in assisted living. This is an especially vulnerable population right now and her work has developed a different level of difficulty, but each day, she leaves the comfort of her home and the smiles of her girls, dons a mask, and serves her patients.
This can be a thankless job. The faces on billboards and receiving food from everywhere are often not those teaching or re-teaching how to tie shoes or even how to eat with a spoon. So I am honoring Sam, and all the others who hold little hands just meeting the world and hands dotted with age recovering from a stroke.
Please help me say thank you to all the heroes out there. Helping us stay alive and helping us live.