Therapists needed (not that kind)
September 5, 2015 10:21 AM   Subscribe

Physical or occupational therapists, speech pathologists, rehabilitation people etc., would you please step inside? I would like to collect some of the physical methods and exercises used to train and develop your clients. I am thinking there are probably things like blowing into straws or passing objects from one hand to another and would love to hear more and what it is they develop.
posted by Iteki to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)
 
I'm a grad student in one of these, this question is so broad I have no idea what it is you want to know.
posted by Aranquis at 2:08 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: I am the worst ask-writer in the universe. I don't know how to clarify really other than with the (made up) examples given, like, for example, if kids practice their oral motorics by blowing bubbles through straws at the speech therapist or if people recovering from strokes might do some special grip training exercise, say squeezing bulb-horns. There might also be exercises that don't provide the feedback given in those examples, such as asking Bob to pass the beanbag from hand to hand ten times to strengthen his hand-eye coordination. Are there similar training games or exercises that you use?
posted by Iteki at 3:55 PM on September 5, 2015


I'm a speech language pathologist who works with young children, and some of the activities you are describing in our field are rather controversial. They're called Non-Speech Oral Motor Exercise (e.g., tapping tongue against the roof of the mouth, blowing bubbles) and are found not to affect speech production. (pdf, on page 5).

(Some SLPs use this kind of therapy for building strength for swallowing, but for speech sound production or word production therapy, this kind of thing likely wouldn't be a part of sessions)
posted by Ideal Impulse at 5:23 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm not a therapist but I am going through pt for hand pain. I need to strengthen the muscles in my hand - but not my arm. How do I do this? By placing small pieces of foam between my fingers and fanning then then unfanning them. I also wrap rubber bands around then and fan them.
posted by rebent at 6:55 PM on September 5, 2015


You can get lists of these from the textbooks and manuals for the various courses - a university library would be able to provide you with everything you needed in detail immediately.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 7:07 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


I think you perhaps do not realise how enormous a question you're asking. Just as an example, when a single weak glute caused me knee pain, my physio gave me an exercise sheet with twelve different exercises on it. There were seven different pieces of equipment involved, from therapy bands to steps to balance boards.

You are asking for somebody to explain the entire clinical practice of both PT and OT to you. That's two separate careers, both requiring professional degrees. You'd be better off either re-formulating this question if that isn't what you want, or buying a couple of textbooks if it is.
posted by tinkletown at 2:08 AM on September 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: I gather I have misjudged the scope yes, but things like rebent mentioned are exactly what I am thinking about. I want to make a computer game with non-traditional inputs and thought that gamifying some of the preferred (or more boring!) exercises common to rehab training could be a good way to do it. I can for example absolutely program a toy or game that would respond to the foam block fanning described. I don't know it's that helps with the question or makes things harder.
If I narrow I down by asking if there is an exercise you find people to be very non-compliant on or that people more frequently perform incorrectly, or that is disproportionately effective?
posted by Iteki at 3:47 AM on September 6, 2015


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