Taking one step forward and two steps back.

Presenting at the research conference really did make me feel positive and gave me the encouragement to 'keep calm and carry on' working on my dissertation over the past few weeks and this positivity really shines through in my last post!

However, it is proving to be a very long and hard process and I have begun to feel a little saturated with it this week. At times I feel I am taking one step forwards and feeling positive that something has gone well and then the realisation that this may not be at the best standard it could be... back to the drawing board and two steps back again.

It is of huge importance to me that I represent service users voices within my research, and on reflection I have realised that this poses to be more difficult than I had originally thought. Due to certain characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, individuals experience difficulties exploring answers in depth and it is these answers that are most important and that I am struggling to represent within my dissertation. I tried to represent their responses in statistical format (Much to my dismay!) However, as usual, I am no good with numbers and this did not work out for me and also didn't really match up with the qualitative nature of my study.

It is back to the drawing board once again - I am determined to get these service users voices heard and represented!

2 weeks until hand in date and counting.

Personal reflections of presenting at MScOT student conference

So this week I presented my research at the MScOT student conference! To be honest I hadn't really thought about it before-hand but reflecting back upon participating in the conference although small, it was actually a really big achievement that I should be very proud of. The day at the conference was very inspiring and it was great to hear from the other students in my cohort and how they are getting on in their research journeys - they have all done some incredible work and it was fantastic to see their vision, enthusiasm and passion! I am so proud to be a part of that.

I began my course with no prior experience of research and my experience lay in a non-academic subject. I stood up in front of a group of peers and a professor of research this week and discussed the little project I have been undergoing and actually realising that I have put a lot of effort into it and it's not as little as I had thought...

The conference began with a very passionate and inspiring key note from Anna Clampin which really got me thinking and reflecting on my own experiences! I would like to share some of the key messages that inspired me with you through examples from my Twitter account:

I just thought this was the most amazing quote with so much truth within it! Anna got us thinking about the heart, mind and soul of OT and how we all have our own stories that led us into the profession: For me it was an interest in the use of creative activities in therapy and the experience gained through working with adults with autism, promoting independence in daily living skills and later on in my career, facilitating creative arts groups. Although we each have our own little stories and we each strive to provide independence and the best practice possible to our service users - are we being too casual about our practice? The OT profession truly is unique and extremely valuable. We must remember that although our interventions may appear simple to an on-looker, they are extremely complex, well researched, occupation focused and wonderfully compassionate. What we do is powerful in it's simplicity and as a future OT I need to remember that it's not all about your average person centred practice and just getting your head down and practicing the way it has always been done within a service. It's about being proud of what I do and it's about remembering my professional head and being able to justify what I do with a strong evidence base and with confidence - Whilst of course always keeping my big and compassionate heart.

By introducing evidence based interventions and research within a service it may provide a new way of thinking or improve service provision. This got me thinking about some of my practice placement experiences where I have designed and implemented an intervention (Usually something arty of course!). The OT's within the team have usually really enjoyed my planning stages of the process as I have often shown them pieces of research and evidence to justify my intervention that they have not come across themselves that they could use within their service. As a future practitioner I hope to continue using current research and evidence to justify and defend my practice from a local level to even promoting services at a national level.

Reflecting back, I have come to realise that my dissertation is not just a representation of my research journey, but it is a representation of my occupational therapy journey, and my little story that led me here in the first place! I have combined my passions and interests of art and autism (yes, I know this is bias) and used them to create my research project which is a reflection on just how much I have really learned on my journey in becoming an OT.

Part of my presentation included the rational for my study which included some pretty hard hitting statistics which have been released recently which highlight a severe lack of knowledge of individuals with autism throughout adulthood. By presenting this information it really opened my eyes to the fact that I was possibly thinking too casually about my 'lovely, little, creative research project' that I thought nothing would come of. Actually these statistics highlight that my piece of research (although small) is actually very relevant in the current autism research 'climate.' Although small, my big heart and compassion has gone into the design and implementation of this project and I designed my data collection meticulously in a person centred way to ensure that service users had their own say on the subject as this was very important to me within my research. 

At this stage I still have some data to analyse but I do have some preliminary themes (as above). These themes may pose many potential and positive outcomes for some adult individuals with autism. Anna has helped me realise that I have had a 'proper' OT focus throughout the process of my project so far and I have displayed my big heart and my compassion for what I do. Before I presented my research I felt as if my project was just 'something and nothing' however it is now time for me to find my professional head that my tutors and educators have been teaching and nurturing. It is time for me to wear that proudly and realise that.... WOW, I have produced a piece of work that is totally relevant and could influence services?! Could this be cost effective and holistic and prevent pharmacological approaches? This could promote my profession! 

I did that!

I must admit the OT in me is wanting to crawl back into the woodwork and hide away a little bit... and I think that comes naturally to us. But presenting here made me realise that we really can't hide away! 

Thank you to Anna for making me realise this and for my colleague who posted this take home reminder!

Get over it Vicky.

References 

Clampin, A. (2016) 'Research and Evidence – tools for a Profession’s development?' Keynote presented at MScOT Student Conference, University of Cumbria. 6th April.

Hirvikoski, T. Mittendorfer-Rutz, E. Boman, M. Larsson, H. Litchenstein, P. Bolte, S. (2015) ‘Premature Mortality in Autism Spectrum Disorder’, The British Journal of Psychiatry, 207(5), pp. 1-7.

Hello

It has been that long since my last post that I almost don't know where to start! Here goes...

Dissertation

My dissertation project is now well under way and the deadline is in just over a months time! So scary. I remember my first few weeks on the course feeling totally bewildered and confused about research and even contemplating whether I had made the right decision to do the course. I started the course not knowing what the words qualitative and quantitative even meant. I can't believe that me... yep little old me is underway with a masters research project! I never thought i'd see the day.

Anyway, enough of the emotional, nostalgic reflection 

My research project is entitled "A qualitative exploration of creative arts as an occupation for adults with autism spectrum disorder" and as I say, I am well underway on my qualitative explorative journey! I recruited participants to engage in semi structured interviews and questionnaires and I am using a thematic analysis process to analyse my findings. I am presenting my results so far at the University of Cumbria's MScOT student conference next week!

My dissertation has kinda taken over my life a little at the moment, but that was to be expected! It is incredibly difficult to balance dissertation work with other university modules at the moment, but I am getting there hopefully! It really does help that I am passionate and really interested in my dissertation topic - that definitely keeps me going!

University modules

I have just finished what has been my favourite module of the course so far where we were working in groups to practically design and implement an OT intervention with a chosen client group. My group chose to design an intervention based upon the theory of reminiscence and was targeted at the client group of over 65 within retirement properties. A lot of hard work went in throughout the whole process of designing and implementing the intervention, and that is never an easy process in a group full off passionate individuals, each with their own opinions, values and beliefs! My group also had to account for unforeseen circumstances such as the intervention being cancelled last minute due to norovirus - meaning we had to find a change of venue as quick as possible. Although stressful at times the experience was entirely positive and the module has allowed me to learn and gain valuable experience of a client group I have never worked with and also gained experience I can transfer into future practice regarding reminiscence techniques and OT practice with older adults.  I know I often look at things through rose tinted glasses but I can honestly say that I enjoyed the intervention so much, it was a beautiful afternoon and we gained some fantastic feedback highlighting that there is indeed an ever-growing need for OT intervention and support with this particular client group.

We have also started our last university module which involves a viva in August which is our last exam! Although it feels ages away at the moment, the end is growing closer.

Placement

Our final 10 week placement is also not too far away as we start at the end of May. I have been on a visit to my placement to meet my educator and find out some information in preparation! I am really looking forward to this placement as it is in the area of learning disabilities and I can't wait to find out  more about the role and practice of OT in this area, I feel excited about the new opportunities this will  give me and also the opportunity to use transferable skills I already have. Including information I learned regarding sensory integration techniques for my viva last year... perhaps that viva wasn't so disastrous after all... 

So that's life at the moment! It's hectic, intense and the hardest I've ever worked. I did have a little break from uni work this week though for my birthday which was bliss!

Back to it now though as unfortunately, dissertations don't write themselves!