Reliance Therapy

F is for Fine Motor Skills!

Origami for Fine Motor Skills
​Occupational therapists are often tasked with working on different skills with patients. These skills include cognition, visual motor, and executive functioning skills as well as many others. Another important skill that OTs often address is fine motor coordination. Fine motor coordination includes “movements that involve certain limbs and involve small muscles between the exercise for the wrist and the ability to move the fingers” (Pradipta & Dewantoro 2019). These motions are what allow an individual to write with a pencil, eat with silverware, or type on a keyboard. Experiencing a deficit with fine motor coordination can cause difficulty with activities that are part of daily life. While there are many ways that occupational therapists can address these deficits, one unique way is through the incorporation of origami.
​Origami, or the art of folding paper, can be a useful activity to work on fine motor skills. Folding the paper correctly engages the participant’s arm, wrist, hand, and finger movements. For children with intellectual disabilities, origami not only works on fine motor skills, but also addresses a student’s motivation, attention, creativity, and perseverance (Pradipta & Dewantoro 2019). Students who practices origami tended to display more independence, resilience, and patience (Pradipta & Dewantoro 2019).
​Occupational therapists can also employ origami activities to increase hand function after an injury. A study published in The British Journal of Hand Therapy worked with 13 participants to study the observed benefits of incorporating origami into therapy sessions (Wilson et al., 2008). What they concluded was an improvement of 11.8 seconds when using the impaired hand as opposed to 4.3 seconds of improvement with the control group (Wilson et al., 2008). Additionally, the participants involved in the origami group enjoyed the sessions and found it to be beneficial (Wilson et al., 2008). Using origami and other creative methods are a great way for occupational therapist to address deficits through enjoyable activities.


References
Pradipta, R. F., & Dewantoro, D. A. (2019). Origami and fine motoric ability of intellectual disability students. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 5(5), 531–538.https://doi.org/https://www.ijicc.net/images/vol5iss5/Part_2/55215_Pradipta_2020_E_R.pdf
Wilson, L.W., Roden, P. W., Taylor, Y., & Marston, L. (2008). The effectiveness of origami on overall hand function after injury: A pilot controlled trial. The British Journal of Hand Therapy, 13(1), 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/175899830801300102

The Effectiveness of Origami on Overall Hand Function After Injury: A Pilot Controlled Trial - Lesley M Wilson, Paul W Roden, Yukiyo Taylor, Louise Marston, 2008 This pilot study measured the effectiveness of using origami to improve the overall hand function of outpatients attending an NHS hand injury unit. The initiati...

And we’re back for another post for Occupational Therapy Month!

Today I look at the letter B, and the brain, and the world of Occupational Therapy (OT). In the past 10 years, new medical breakthroughs in the understanding of the brain have significantly expanded. Medical understanding of injuries to the brain from physical trauma to internal conditions such as strokes and other diseases has exponentially grown. Our brain has the capability to continually develop, reroute itself and heal from many of these conditions, changing our understanding of how to address and treat
these individuals. OT from its inception to today has always looked at the individual as a whole person, the physical as well as the mental and spiritual. In years past, many persons with brain conditions would
have been treated in the early stages of their condition, but then often written off after 6 months or so. Today, the brain injured person can seek early intensive therapy with ongoing progression, treatment and varying approaches to continue their therapy for many years to come. OTs find recovery techniques and modifications to support the individual for their current abilities. A wholistic approach
that includes the individual, their environment as well as their family network provides the skills, knowledge and empowerment that people need to successfully manage and overcome their condition.

Want to test your knowledge about OT? Well, you're in luck because it's time for another round of Name That Assistive Device!

Place your guess for the name of the pictured assistive device in the comments below. We will comment with the correct name next Tuesday!

Good luck and happy guessing!

It's time for our first round of Name That Assistive Device of the new year!

Comment your guess for the name of the pictured assistive device. We will announce the correct name next Tuesday!

Good luck and happy guessing!