Laken's OT Thoughts

            Last Friday, we had a guest lecture on aging and sexual health. Some of the key topics discussed myths of older adults when it comes to sexual health and the physical changes with sexual health, the differences between men and women when it comes to sexual health, and other factors that impact sexuality for older clients.             One myth that was discussed during are lecture was that older adults are asexual. Many times there is a decline in sexual activity; however, many couples still remain active as they get older. Compared to aging, emotional wellbeing and the quality of the relationship have a bigger impact on whether or not a couple is active. Some physical changes for females when it comes to sexual response are hormone fluctuations, diminished lubrication, and thinning of the vaginal barrel and part of vulva.   In men, some physical changes that occur are decrease in testosterone, decreased blood flow, and sperm cell production drops.    

When hearing from our guest lecture on Monday, I learned so much and gained so much insight into what an adaptive driving assessment is. One key take away of this lecture, and an important thing to note, was the purpose of an adaptive driving program. There are 3 purposes of an adaptive driving program, which include assessing individuals for safety and potential to drive, evaluating persons with physical disabilities for appropriate adaptive equipment, and training individuals in the use of adaptive equipment and/or compensation.             We also discussed common diagnoses that may be seen in this setting and what you may expect to see when evaluating and treating individuals with those diagnoses. For example, we discussed how individuals who have had a stroke may present with spasticity on one side of the body where they will want to drive with only one hand, as well as may present with neglect causing them to possibly change lanes out of nowhere. Another exam

            Looking back at my Glyph from the start of school, not much has changed in my views of leadership. However, after drawing a new Glyph this week, I do see a couple of changes. One aspect of leadership where my view has changed was whether or not an individual who is more introverted can be an effective leader. At the beginning of my schooling, the length of the hair on my Glyph was a medium length, which means that I was unsure of if an individual who is more introverted can be an effective leader. When drawing my new Glyph, it had longer hair, meaning that I do believe that individuals with more introverted personalities can be good leaders. Throughout my schooling, I have learned that anyone has the potential to be a good and effective leader, as long as the individual is passionate about what they are doing. I have seen many people step up into leadership positions in the past year with more introverted personalities, and they have done phenomenal jobs