October 27th is World Occupational Therapy Day!
This is a day held annually, intended to bring visibility to Occupational Therapy as a profession. The theme for this year is "Unity through Community," and as a clinic that relies heavily on collaboration to further the progress of our clients, we found this to be the perfect opportunity talk to our owner, Megan Buckland, about what the idea of unity means to her.
Although Lively Therapy Services began as an Occupational Therapy clinic, it was Megan's ultimate vision to expand the company and include other disciplines in the blueprint of what Lively Therapy Services offers. As we continue to grow, so does collaboration in all aspects of a business: marketing, networking, development, and therapeutic.
Q: What does unity through community mean to you?
A: Unity through community means collaboration with other professionals. It takes all different kinds of providers to help a child and family reach their goals! It takes a village!
Q: What is a lesson you have learned through working with and in the communities you have?
A: The lesson that sticks out the most is knowing your limits as a therapist. Understanding your boundaries is important and it's okay to not know every answer. Don't be afraid to ask questions and collaborate with other providers!
Q: Why do you think collaboration is important with Occupational Therapy?
A: As occupational therapists, you know, we have our scope of practice. In the end, collaboration with other providers enhances the outcomes for the families and kids that we treat.
Q: Without collaboration, what are some of the issues you might run into with OT?
A: Obviously there have been times I haven't been able to collaborate with someone else, but it's good to know what other practitioners are working on in their sessions, that way we can integrate those things into our sessions. For example, if speech is working on a specific word, we try to incorporate that word into communication with the child. Or if PT is working on a specific muscle movement, we can add that into the gross motor part of our sessions. Not collaborating doesn't hurt the child, but collaboration helps look at the child as a whole.
Q: What do you think makes your staff united in their goals to treat?
A: We all have different experiences. Whether some of us are moms, aunts, some of us have no kids, but we're all able to bring a certain type of treatment or intervention to better help a child based on our therapeutic experiences. We've got a flexible, creative, and humble team and that helps us help our kids reach their goals.
Megan Buckland has been a Licensed Occupational Therapy practitioner since 2014. She has extensive experience in areas from infancy to geriatric, however her true passion has always been pediatrics and adults with developmental disabilities. She has over 10 years of specialized and diverse training that has honed her skills into the therapist she is today. Megan holds a Masters of Science of Occupational Therapy from Cabarrus College of Health Science, a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Appalachian State University, and an Associates degree as a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant.
Lively Therapy Services, LLC is a dream that was born from Megan's deep seated desire to help families and their children achieve their highest level of potential, no matter the odds. This help will take on many forms and will be customized to each child's or family's unique needs but it might include assisting families with their child's daily routine, picky or problems with feeding, or adapting to sensory stimuli.
Megan has extensive training in pediatric treatments that include: Sensory Integration, Learning without Tears, Anxious Eaters, Beckman Oral Motor, NDT, Gross Motor, Reflex Integration, Fine Motor and Visual Motor deficits, and is currently certified in Therapeutic Listening. Combined with her time as a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA/L), Megan has over 10 years of experience in the industry.
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