Surfers for Autism

Before I rant and rave about how amazing my Saturday was, I will start with this clip from CNN Money:

That's right. Occupational Therapy is ranked #10 on the 100 Best Jobs of 2012. Although, I don't like this description of OT, I am proud to be an OT and thrilled about the media attention the profession is getting.



So, on Saturday I volunteered with an organization called Surfers for Autism. I signed up to volunteer last year but something came up and I couldn't go :( This is a group of surfers that travel all over Florida's beaches (and even to Puerto Rico and North Carolina) teaching children with all sorts of developmental disabilities how to surf. How cool is that? It is all FREE for the parents! They provide water, bunches and bunches of food donated from local restaurants, and sunblock all day long. It's a day of fun for these kids in a non-judgmental environment with other kids who are like them. So cool.

Since I am truly a pediatric OT at heart (but working in geriatrics for the first few years), any opportunity I have to work with kids, I take it. I met up with some of my old classmates there and we had so much fun! We split into teams of 3 partnered with one surfer at a time. We volunteered to take on a few of the more "challenging" kids who are considered more severe. We had some kids who were non-verbal, so I got to put my sign language skills to use by telling them to stand/sit on the board. Every child was at a completely different level of severity and if you have never worked with someone with autism, it can be pretty overwhelming.  It was such an amazing feeling to see the kids smiling and to see their parents standing on shore taking pictures of them, so happy. Knowing that I had a part in that is one of the best feelings ever.

The last surfer we worked with was a little girl named Jessie who was about 5-6 years old, not speaking yet, and has Rett's Syndrome. I stayed on the shore for a few minutes and spoke with her mother who had just moved here from Kuwait. She was telling me of all the struggles she has had trying to get her daughter into therapies since nobody takes her insurance. She finally found a speech therapist who will take her. The only OT that will accept her insurance can't get her in for an evaluation until February 2013! So sad. It's people like this and moments like this that make me want to just offer free or discounted services to this family. It's heartbreaking because this little girl needs therapy bad. The mother told me she moved to the USA to get services for her daughter.. And with our healthcare system you have to be poor-poor for Medicaid, but if you are just regular poor, you are screwed.