ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog

In the recent AJOT Fleming-Castaldy and Gillen wrote an interesting article entitled "The issue is: Ensuring that education, certification, and practice are evidence based."  In the article, they examine why outdated neurophysiologic techniques are promoted in the profession of occupational therapy as opposed to more current and evidence based motor learning and motor control theories.  They argue that outdated models based on Bobath and Brunnstrom have no place in contemporary practice. In spirit I agree wholeheartedly.  There are many techniques that are still present in contemporary practice and we hang onto those techniques even in the face of mounting evidence that other models are more appropriate.  I have spent considerable time in this blog discussing this issue as it relates to certain sensory-based approaches and the very limited evidence that exists for their continued promotion and use. Toward the end of the article they suggest that educators need to...

There has been some noise and distress in social media circles with the recent advertisement run by MSNBC regarding 'who should be responsible for raising children.'  Here is the video: This academic/pundit has since walked back some of her comments, stating that people just didn't understand the nuanced nature of what she was saying about 'collective' efforts in raising children. I suppose that if she wanted her message to be that we need to 'build a world together' that she should have said that in the original message instead of a bizarre statement that we need to 'break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents.'   Mo st parents I have spoken to about this weren't impressed with being informed that they just weren't nuanced enough to  understand the original message. This is an issue that directly relates to therapy services for children because we are at a point in time where it is becoming increasingly ...