What's Level II Fieldwork?
Level II Fieldwork is a 12-week placement, meant to prepare you with the skills you will need to be an occupational therapist in any setting, even if the job you take is with a different population of clients. You are assigned to an OT and work under their supervision for the 12 weeks. You start by observing and work up to taking on their caseload, becoming (hopefully) pretty independent from about the middle point (6 weeks) until the end. It trains you on how to communicate with patients and healthcare team members, how to document what you see in clinical OT terms, how to bill for your sessions, assess, evaluate, treat, and discharge clients. Phew.. so much to learn!
Early Intervention
My first Level II is in early intervention (EI). So early intervention is the name for this incredible service available to any infant or toddler ages 0-3 whose parent or doctor has concerns for their growth and development. It's a preventative service. By catching issues when kiddos are young and adaptable, many of the children catch up to their peers and do not need special ed services when they enter preschool. And EI floods families with resources, free of charge, paid by insurance and then the tab is picked up by the state. Depending on a child's needs, they may receive services from a social worker, developmental specialist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech therapist, applied behavioral specialist... and maybe a few others I'm missing. Or they may only see one team member. It's fantastic. Best part is we come to them - yep, home visits, daycare visits, playground visits.. We treat the children in their natural environment with their caretakers present so that the things we do during our sessions can hopefully be carried over into their day to day lives. We do a lot of educating and training families on what would best benefit their child and what is developmentally appropriate.
So what do we see?
In no particular order.. Preemie babies. Delayed babies. Kiddos who should be walking who are just learning to sit up. Toddlers with feeding issues, sensory or otherwise, who refuse to eat much and aren't gaining weight. Kiddos with conditions from traumatic births or substance use from mamma... Abnormal muscle tone. Abnormal head shape. A thing called torticollis that has to do with a baby's neck.... Cerebral palsy. Autism. Emotional attachment issues. Speech delays... Probably more
We see dynamic homes and broken homes. Different family structures and cultures. Children who run the coup and children who listen. Smiles, giggles, and tears. Sneezes, drool, and boogers. Determination, distraction, and fatigue. We see the motors turning. Kiddos who have already been through more in their little lives than I can imagine or would wish on anyone. Kiddos who work so hard each day to do the most simple things.. such fighters!
So what's it like?
I drive around with (or following) my supervisor from house to house. There's an office we stop at occasionally, for staff meetings or to check or update patient files. We wear casual clothes, sit on the floor, eat in our car, and pee at local fast food places (or the office). :) We take our shoes off just about everywhere we go, so wear nice socks! We call prior to arriving, as people often forget (surprise!), and write a progress note for each visit. We contact others on the team to communicate concerns, clarify the plan moving forward, and conduct re-evaluations. We interact with caregiver and kiddo, try to remember the kiddos' history and goals, what toy we promised them they'd get to use this time, and try to keep it all straight! We have a trunk full of toys and bring in particular ones that match the skills we are targeting for each child, or use their toys depending on what they have... Phew.. all in a day's work. :)
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