How many “F”s are in the following sentence?
“Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of years.”
Six. But most people see only three. Why? The brain cannot correctly process the word “OF”. The letter F usually makes the “f” sound, like in “fox”. However, in the word “of”, it makes a “v” sound. Somehow, the brain overlooks the word “of” as it scans for the sound of “f”.
For many of us “seeing is believing,” but what about the things we cannot see? Millions of people across the world suffer from “hidden disabilities” such as brain injuries, autism spectrum disorders, mental illness and more. Though these disabilities may not be visible on the outside, they are serious and life altering. Laura Brydges, a Canadian living with the effects of brain injury, has started a campaign to create a hidden disability symbol to bring awareness to those who live with these disabilities. Check out this article from Brain Injury Society of Toronto’s blog (BIST) and help Laura in her quest to make this symbol recognized around the world.
Brain Injury Blog Toronto: Is it the right time for a hidden disability symbol?
Taking the leap to go out on your own and begin your own practice is a big step. But with proper planning and a positive outlook, this decision can be extremely rewarding. I invite you to listen to the following Podcast, on StartATherapyPractice.com where I share the story of my decision to open my own practice which eventually lead to my current firm, Entwistle Power.
Start A Therapy Practice: Julie Entwistle, OT – Begin A Therapy Practice Organically
Many parents with children who have autism are moving towards a strict gluten/casein free diet. Although this diet has not been medically proven to help with the symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD’s), many feel that it does. The following from Web MD discusses the pros and cons of the gluten/casein free diet and the connection to ASD’s.
Web MD: Gluten-Free/Casein-Free Diets for Autism
We want to hear from you! Has the Gluten-Free Casein-Free diet worked in your situation? Would you recommend it to others?
One of the main reasons we started our blog 2 years ago was to bring awareness to the general population about the profession of Occupational Therapy and to be able to connect with OT’s all over the world. A fellow OT, Dr. Frederick Covington, of “Ask The OT” recently reached out to the global OT community requesting collaboration such that he could create a song and video to spark OT awareness. The video features OT’s from across the globe, representing over 5 continents and Entwistle Power is happy to be representing Canada in Dr. Covington’s “I Am OT.”
Which word, if pronounced right, is wrong, but if pronounced wrong is right?
Wrong.
Today, April 2nd, is World Autism Awareness Day. A 2010 study conducted by the U.S. CDC found that approximately 1 in 68 American children are on the autism spectrum. Furthermore, they estimate that autism spectrum disorders affect more than 2 million Americans and tens of millions of individuals across the globe. World Autism Awareness Day began as a day to honour those with autism and is celebrated with the annual “Light it up Blue” campaign.
Check out the following article from Autism Speaks to find out more about this campaign and how YOU can “Light it up Blue” for autism awareness.
Autism Speaks: 5 Ways You Can Light It Up Blue on World Autism Awareness Day!
Many employers know that a Physical Job Demands Analysis involves a health professional outlining the physical aspects of a specific job position. These are common in manufacturing or production industries where jobs can be heavy, repetitive, or require high physical demands. But these reports are seldom helpful if an employee suffers a brain injury, cognitive or emotional impairment and their return to work issues relate to cognitive or psychological changes and not necessarily physical impairment.
A Cognitive Job Demands Analysis is an objective evaluation of the specific cognitive, emotional and psychological skills required to perform the essential job duties of a given position. As mentioned, traditional Job Demands Analysis typically address only the physical components of the essential job duties. Yet, jobs are multifaceted and performance at work depends on the interplay of human physical, cognitive, emotional, behavioral and environmental factors. As such, having a cognitive job demands analysis in conjunction with a physical job demands analysis is ideal, or these can be completed as a standalone assessment if required.
Cognitive job demands analyses can be helpful in providing a baseline measurement tool against which an individual’s cognitive and psychological capacities may be compared, such as when hiring new employees, developing and implementing training programs, or to assist in return to work post injury or illness. These comprehensive and detailed assessments can be utilized when any health condition (cognitive, physical, or emotional) impacts an employee’s thinking, cognition and/or their interpersonal processes and abilities.
Much like with a physical job demands analysis, a cognitive job demands analysis involves an on-site observation of a worker(s) completing the job in question and usually includes objective measurements, and sometimes interviews with employers and co-workers. Some of the more specific aspects examined include:
· Hearing, vision and perception
· Reading, writing and speech
· Memory, attention, and higher level cognitive abilities, like problem solving, insight and judgement
· Safety awareness
· Work pace
· Self-supervision
· Deadlines and work pressure
· Interpersonal skills required for the job
· Self-regulation and the need to work independently, with supervision, or in a group
A comprehensive job demands analysis should include comparisons of the information obtained to standardized classification data related to occupations, such as those outlined by the National Occupational Classification 2011 proposed by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. After a report is generated, recommendations and interventions for consideration can be developed.
Do you feel that your organization has positions that need to be outlined via a cognitive job demands analysis? Do you have more questions on how a cognitive job demands analysis can be used in the return to work process? If so, seek out the services of an Occupational Therapist, or contact Entwistle Power for a free consultation.
For additional informative posts on workplace health and wellness please refer to our Healthy Workplace page.
Resources
Haruko Ha, D., Page, J.J., Wietlisbach, C.M. (2013). Work evaluations and work programs. In H. McHugh Pendleton and W. Schultz-Krohn (Eds.) Pedretti’s Occupational Therapy Practice Skills for Physical Dysfunction (337-380), St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier Mosby.
As nutrition month comes to a close we want to remind you of the importance of eating well 9 to 5 to boost your health and productivity. The best way to ensure you are consuming the nutrients you need, while avoiding ingredients that can be detrimental to your health, is to make and take your own lunch every day. The following from nutritionmonth.ca provides you with helpful tips and recipes to create healthy snacks and meals to keep you at your best all day long.
Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)
What if I told you that there was one easy way to achieve the goals you have set for yourself? Could it be that simple? People are complicated creatures, true. But if you have taken the time to set goals, are you measuring these and achieving them? Are you working on your goals every day?
Here is the secret sauce…with every fork in the road, and there are tons of them, ask yourself: which decision aligns with my goals?
Let’s take health as an example. Your goal is to lose weight, be more active, or be less breathless at the top of the stairs. So you get to work and the first decision is: should I take the elevator or the stairs? Then it is lunch and you have the option to work at your desk, or go out for a short walk. Or you don’t bring a lunch and need to decide if you should buy pop or water. The salad or burger. With each of these examples one decision aligns with your goals and one does not. Yet if you continuously choose the option that aligns with your goals, results will follow. This is true even if you make a small decision in the right direction – like taking the stairs for one flight then catching the elevator for the rest of the ride. Or instead of ordering the salad, you just choose to not order the fries.
Using my life as an example, I have five key goal areas: health, family, career, finances and personal growth. Every evening I have the option of bringing my computer home to continue working into the night. To do so may align with a financial goal of earning a suitable income, and a career goal to run a successful business, but it negates two other important goals of health (working means I will not exercise), and family (working means I won’t be spending time with my children). So, I have a conundrum. But in these cases the reality is that my day at work has already been spent on my career and financial goals, while my other goals have taken a backburner to work time. So, considering this, aligning my evening time with two different goals helps me to make the important decision to leave the computer at the office, minus the guilt that comes from leaving some work unfinished.
Yes, achieving goals takes discipline, but it is far easier to make small consistent choices, then to make a drastic change that might not be sustainable. So, on the path to awesomeness that involves you setting goals and blowing these out of the water, just ask yourself daily, as you need to make decisions around your behavior and time, “which option here will help me to achieve my goal(s)?” Then, as you align your decisions with your top priorities, results will follow.