How Two Letters Can Spell Hero

𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.⁣

Many medical heroes have been celebrated these past few weeks and I want to remember the therapists among them. This is my friend Sam and she is an Occupational Therapist.⁣
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When the words dysgraphia and dyslexia came into my daily lexicon, I was scared. When attention deficit was added to that, I was terrified. How could the children I find to be so perfect struggle doing seemingly simple tasks? And how could I help them with something that brought me such fear?⁣
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Enter OT. If you have a differential thinker, these two letters likely dominate your schedule, as well. The differences these professionals have made in the lives of my children, in my life is immeasurable.⁣ Today I celebrate those who understand how bouncing and swinging calm, that cursive is easier than printing and all the other ingenious entry points for our genius children.⁣

But there are many ways that occupational therapy can help. Sam works with folks in assisted living. This is an especially vulnerable population right now and her work has developed a different level of difficulty, but each day, she leaves the comfort of her home and the smiles of her girls, dons a mask, and serves her patients.

This can be a thankless job. The faces on billboards and receiving food from everywhere are often not those teaching or re-teaching how to tie shoes or even how to eat with a spoon. So I am honoring Sam, and all the others who hold little hands just meeting the world and hands dotted with age recovering from a stroke.

Please help me say thank you to all the heroes out there. Helping us stay alive and helping us live. Do you have a therapeutic hero?
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