Twitter and What I Found There

I am a huge fan of Twitter. Nothing cures boredom quite like a Twitter feed. However, I also didnt realize how informative it could be. In completing this assignment I feel I have gotten to see a whole different side of Twitter, and one that I quite enjoyed. I also may have found a few accounts to follow to make my own Twitter feed a little more educational. :)


So I googled "occupational therapy twitter" and clicked on the hashtag that brought me to the page where occupational therapists across the world can communicate about new studies or new techniques for different kinds of patients. Many of the tweets I stumbled across were links to other articles, like this one that describes what techniques other occupational therapists can use if treating kids with ADHD. I also saw a lot of positive uplifting tweets about the work being done. For example, Alexis wrote "I do it for the client desiring to walk their pup w/o feeling winded or short of breath from pneumonia recovery #OT365 #occupational therapy." These kind of tweets also lead me to other hashtags to search through.


There were a few Twitter accounts that I found really helpful. First was AOTA's twitter account, or American Occupational Therapy Association. They provide links to information for future OTs like myself, as well as new strategies and methods for current OTs. More specifically, the one I found most interesting was this tweet about adult coloring books. I have always loved coloring (I never grew out of it-oops), but I never imagined that something that simple could be used to heal someone. The other twitter account I found interesting was called TodayinOT. This account provides any breaking news in the field, as well as job openings. One of my favorite tweets from them involves music therapy as well. It describes how adding musical therapy to original OT exercises eased symptoms of the illness. I enjoyed this because I have always loved music, playing violin since age nine and singing throughout high school. The thought of music helping someone through an incredibly painful time warms my heart.

Before going on twitter, I assumed I would find tweets from organizations promoting the career, and providing links and resources to further educate myself on what exactly an occupational therapist is. While I did find some of those, I also found tweets from specific people talking about the day-to-day life in this field. I did not expect this, but I almost found these kid of tweets more helpful than the links to articles, because it made it feel real. Like that could be me someday if I worked hard enough.

Based off twitter, I get the impression that my field is very rewarding. I have seen occupational therapists tweet about how awesome their day was because they got to teach someone how to write again. I also saw tweets from patients and family member's of patients giving thanks to occupational therapists for helping them do the things they love again. Looking through these twitter feeds has made me excited to join this wonderful group of people that are helping people every day.

AOTA, "OT Around the World." 1-21-16 via Twitter.