Interesting Facts on Era Presentations

   This past week our class presented our Era Presentations from the 1940's through the 2010's. Each group was assigned one decade to research what was taking place in different aspects of life during that time period. It was exciting to see how much we have grown not only as OT's but in all other parts of life as well throughout these time periods. The first point that really sparked my interest during these presentations was from the 1940's. The 1940's were all about World War II and how the nation was involved and helping in the war efforts. As the war went on, it became extremely obvious that more OT's were needed to help with the high demands from war injuries obtained by soldiers. However, it took 18 months to become and OT and that simply was not fast enough. To help with this problem the U.S. Army War Emergency Courses were made. This turned the 18 month program into only a 2 week program under direct supervision of an experienced OT. This was extremely interesting to me because that was such an extreme time difference and I could not imagine being in school for only 2 weeks and then going out and practicing on clients! It also makes me wonder how the services were and if they were successful on the clients they worked with.
   Another point that was mentioned and I found interesting and still active today was the Education of all Handicapped Children Act of 1975 and the Handicapped Infants and Toddlers Act of 1986. Even though these happened in different decades, they are both based on the same premise and made a huge change in children's life. It allowed for children with disabilities to obtain a fair and free education in the public schools system and introduced early intervention and least restrictive environments. This was not only important for kids with disabilities put was also a big turning point for OT's because they were becoming more prominent in settings other than hospitals like schools and started to gain awareness of services provided to a wider range of the population.
   Another fact that I found interesting was in the 2000's decade and it was actually a person named, Carolyn Baum. She was the person who shifted OT away from the medical model and moved towards a client-centered model that used a top-down, holistic, individualist approach to OT services. I though this was so important because this approach is what OT is all about today and what we pride ourselves on but it just happened so recently! This approach is the only way I have ever known OT to be, but it was so shocking to me that this change has happened so recently and it was not always like this. Without this woman and her changes to OT, the profession would be extremely different with how it is practiced and taught today.