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April 7, 2000

Department of Occupational Therapy at ULM celebrates OT Awareness Month

The Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Louisiana at Monroe is promoting its profession during the month of April. Students in Occupational Therapy (OT) have been involved in many events throughout the year including: Disability Awareness Expo, Cerebral Palsy Telethon, Mardi Gras Parade and Fall Kid's Gap for Arco.

Once again, the students are participating in the Kid's Gap for Arco, on April 13 at Forsythe Park in Monroe. Along with Arco, the students will be putting together a spring fling for developmentally disabled children and their families. Events are fun and exciting as well as therapeutic for the children. Activities include an egg hunt in which the children will use gross motor skills when running for the eggs, a pin the tail on the rabbit game which allows the children to use fine motor skills and a recognition activity in which the children will eat different kinds of textured candy and have to recognize the different sensations with their mouth.

The activities on April 13 will be from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at Forsythe Park.

What is Occupational Therapy?

s Occupational Therapy is a health profession which evaluates and treats individuals with social, emotional, physical, or developmental problems and teaches these individuals how to overcome the challenges of any of these disabilities.

s OT's have an extensive psychosocial background which helps in addressing all areas of an individual's life, assisting one in coping with a disability, and working with people with mental illness.

s OT's address problems that interfere with school/work, self-care, and play/leisure.

s OT's use purposeful and meaningful activities to reach an individual's goals.

s OT's fabricate adaptive equipment which assist individuals in performing tasks such as writing, fishing or eating.

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