“The Who Behind the What”. That’s what this segment of the guest blog is supposed to highlight. The “What” segment is supposed to highlight what we are passionate about. But I think the “who” is much more relevant if you know the “What” first. My “What” is this: I am passionate about finding solutions to the crisis levels of obesity and impaired learning (motor, social/emotional, and academic) that I see devastating the quality of life for so many kids. And I am passionate in my opinion that the solutions for many (not all) are relatively simple and being continuously ignored as we raise, educate, and professionally service children. More on that later since I need to do the “who” part first.

I am a 33 year old occupational therapist (OT) currently working with school students and in early intervention (ages 0-3). I was born and raised in rural northwestern Pennsylvania. The road to being a pediatric healthcare provider began in high school. My plan as an adolescent was to be a corporate lawyer and make a lot of money. That changed in my later teen years. I spent a lot of time at a Shriner's Hospital http://www.shrinershq.org/Hospitals/Main as a patient for reconstructive plastic surgery due to burn injuries. The Shriner’s hospital closest to my home was an orthopedic specialty hospital so most of the children I encountered there were immobilized, to some degree, due congenital conditions, illness, or injury. I was the only kid in that hospital that had 4 working limbs and no serious physical limitations. I think that seeing these children with physical impairments up close and personal, and in stark comparison to the purely cosmetic nature of my injuries, triggered both a sense of perspective and gratitude about my own situation. More importantly, it changed my whole way of thinking about my future career as a corporate lawyer.

Instead, I went off to college and began by studying biology. After educating myself on a variety of pediatric health professions I was drawn to occupational therapy immediately because of its basic philosophical focus of using activities that are meaningful and purposeful for the client to improve their functional performance and quality of life. I was also very drawn to the OT’s practice of looking at people from a holistic perspective (holistic health care was not a term I had ever heard in 1995). Since 2003 I have had the pleasure of serving kids as an OT in their homes, schools, and the clinical setting.

Lately, I have been exceedingly frustrated by one particular thing and it has led me to write about the topic I introduced. When I meet a kid for the first time I always ask: “What is your favorite thing to do when you are not at school?” When I see a kid on a Monday I always ask: “What did you do over the weekend?” I get the same answer to both questions at least 90% of the time: “play video games/x-box/play station/wii/computer games”

I propose that until we find a way to change this answer, we, as parents, educators, specialty service providers, and taxpayers are throwing a good portion of our time, effort, and money down the drain in our current programming for special education and struggling regular education students. I propose that as responsible community members we must find a way to change this for all children. That is what I am passionate about and that is what I will discuss in the next segments.