OT SPD course

I just got back from a course on best practice for SPD by Delana Honaker (title link goes to her website) and felt that it was a really worthwhile experience. I may share some notes from the presentation at a later time, but just wanted to jot out a few thoughts I had.

First off, as I alluded to earlier, this was an excellent course. Dr. DeLana was a great presenter, embodying what anyone would want from a professor or lecturer. She brings energy and extensive knowledge to her topic. As I was sitting there, I had one of those semi-common (for me) semi-remorseful thoughts of, "why didn't I go to that school? It would have been great to have her for a teacher." If she was my teacher, I might have been more interested in peds. Don't get me wrong- I love my university and have great pride in my program. But I've been to enough conferences that have professors presenting to have that thought more than once. I'm concluding that 1) we have some super awesome OT instructors in the world (!!!) and 2) that this is a similar feeling to spending the day with your friend's parent and wishing you'd been in that household. It's not that your own parents weren't good and loving, and you secretly understand that the situation wouldn't actually be perfectly rosy all the time. After all, if you hang out with that adored parent/professor long enough, you'll see the less-public behaviors that drive the insiders crazy.

Secondly, as I was waiting for the program to begin (and thus, didn't know that it would be awesome), I had a panicked thought. I had previously attended several conferences and symposiums where you could pick and choose individual courses, as well as leave if a particular course turned out to be crummy. The tradeoff with the conference aspect is that you don't get to delve deeply into a topic, since you're usually limited to 30 mins - 3 hours. When registering for just one course though, you don't know exactly what you'll get for your money. I hadn't thought excessively about it prior to sitting down this morning, and fortunately, my fears proved to be irrational in this case. IDEA: wouldn't it be helpful to have a database online of peoples' evaluations of different CEs? Sounds like a project for a techie.

Third, I will admit a personal shortcoming evidenced today. I sometimes have major problems with the networking aspect of business, which is actually something that I really wanted to do today. Despite my online-persona, I am a total introvert, so it is hard to just walk up to people and chat. I managed to talk to some people today, but struck out (5x) for making a worthwhile connection, especially one that would be suitable to offer at least some minor guidance in my situation. Bummer.

And finally, I think that the professional wisdom is starting to bear out that OTs who treat kids with sensory problems have all their own sensory issues exacerbated. I know that is the case with me (and believe me, I have ISSUES). After finally feeling like some of those behaviors were sinking away, the past few months have brought them back to a elementary school level. Granted, I have a better understanding of them and more control over my reactions now, but it's still kind of annoying.