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.
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