Inside the O'Brien's reflection

     This week, I read a book called Inside the O'Brien's by Lisa Genova. It's about Joe O'Brien, who is diagnosed with Huntington's disease. The book follows his life as he learns what Huntington's disease is and as he learns how to live with it. Joe has four children in their 20s, and we were also walked through their stories as they find out that their dad has Huntington's disease and they have a 50% chance of inheriting the disease. The reader gets to see how Joe's children react and how they decide if they want to be tested to find out if they have the Huntington's gene as well.
     This book gave me a better look into what Huntington's disease really is. We have learned about Huntington's disease in class, but I feel like, even though this book is fiction, it gave me a real look into someone's life who has Huntington's disease. It shows the reader what life is like day in and day out for the person who is diagnosed with HD as well as for that person's family. It walks the reader through the many decision and trials that Joe and his family go through with Huntington's disease.
     One of the main things that I took away from reading this book was not to judge a person for the way they act because you never know what that person could be going through. Throughout the book, Joe O'Brien was accused of being drunk because of the symptoms of his disease. He also had a bad temper throughout the book which is also a symptom of Huntington's disease. Unless they knew he had Huntington's disease, people who saw his anger, chorea, and other symptoms always assumed he was drunk. That really stuck out to me as I was reading the book and made me angry, but then once I thought about it, I thought I probably would have said the same thing. Therefore, the main point I took away from the book was to not judge people and assume things about people, especially if you do not know what they are going through.

Occupational Profile

Client’s Name: Joseph O’Brien

Date: 21 April 2018

	Reason the client is seeking OT services and concerns related to engagement in occupations (may include the client’s general health status)	The client has Huntington’s disease which causes difficulty speaking and will eventually have difficulty swallowing. He has started slurring his speech.
	Occupations in which the client is successful and barriers or potential barriers to his/her success in those occupations (p. S5)	Occupations: spending time with family and friends, eating, having and holding a conversation, sleeping, walking Barriers: Huntington’s disease causes slowness in processing thoughts and “finding” words
	Personal interests and values (p. S7)	Spending time with family and friends, taking care of his family, watching baseball, yoga
	The client’s occupational history/life experiences	Lives on the first floor of a three story home with his wife (his children live in the apartments on the second and third floors). He is remodeling the house, does yoga, and takes walks with his daughter. History: He was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease when he was 44 years old. He began showing symptoms 7 years prior to diagnosis (age 37). His symptoms have slowly progressed and he has started having trouble with slurring speech.
	Performance patterns (routines, habits, & rituals) – what are the client’s patterns of engagement in occupations and how have they changed over time? What are the client’s daily life roles? Note patterns that support and hinder occupational performance. (p. S8)	Day- the client spends his day taking walks, spending time with his family, watching baseball, doing yoga, and remodeling his dining room Timeline- ·      At age 37, Joe started showing symptoms of Huntington’s disease. ·      His wife convinced him to go to the doctor at age 44. ·      He was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. ·      Symptoms are slowly progressing. ·      He attends physical therapy and speech therapy sessions.
	Aspects of the client’s environments or contexts, as viewed by the client (p. S28)	Supports to Occupational Engagement:	Barriers to Occupational Engagement:
	Physical	Daughter works at a Yoga studio where he takes lessons with her.	When he takes walks, his route sometimes involves stairs which are a little more challenging for him.
	Social	His family and friends, Tommy and Donnie, are very supportive and encouraging and look out for him well.	Our culture requires us to act a certain way in social situations which are sometimes hard for people with HD, who sometimes seem as if they are drunk.
	Cultural	He is playing a role in the community trying to educate people about Huntington’s disease with his T-shirts. He has also begun going to church by himself to pray.	Culture expects people to act a certain way which can be hard for him because of his chorea, agnosia, and other symptoms that come with Huntington’s disease.
	Personal	45-year old male who feels successful when he can take care of himself and his family.	A symptom of Huntington’s disease is depression and thoughts of suicide.
	Temporal	He isn’t working anymore so he more time to focus on himself and on what he wants to do while he is still able to get around and communicate.	No temporal barriers.
	Virtual	He is able to use smart phone to look up facts about Huntington’s disease and activities that may be able to help maintain the skills he has for as long as possible.	Client sometimes gets focused on watching television and does not want to do anything else for the day.
	Client’s priorities and desired target outcomes (consider occupational performance – improvement and enhancement, prevention, participation, role competence, health & wellness, quality of life, well-being, and/or occupational justice) (p. S34)	Client wishes to be able to start and hold a conversation. He wishes to work on his slurring and minimize it as much as possible for as long as possible. Client wishes to work on activities that will help with swallowing and that will hold off difficulties with swallowing for as long as possible.