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Author Archive for: jentwistle

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Hot Day. Distracted Mind. Child Dies.

In keeping with my earlier post about safe driving and bad habits, I thought I would touch on another very tragic, but preventable, circumstance surrounding cars and children.  It was the first very hot and humid day this summer when I heard of the death of a two year old after his grandmother left him in the car.  She just forgot he was there and went about her day.  While it might seem inconceivable that this could happen to any caring and well-intentioned adult, I read an article recently that helped me to understand how possible this is.

 

Several years ago a mother in Calgary was returning to her job as a University Professor after a one year maternity leave following the birth of her second child.  She was a well-educated and diligent mother that did everything she could to protect the safety of her children during pregnancy, at home, and in the community. With her return to work the family had to adopt a new routine.  She dropped her older child at day care and proceeded to take her daughter (11 months) to her new child care provider.  The mother and daughter were singing and laughing in the car when the child fell asleep.  The mother then spent the next several minutes putting together a very detailed mental plan of how she was going to get her child out of the car seat and into the day care without waking her.  Once she visualized that process, and understood how it would all work, her mind rapidly switched to thoughts about her first week back at work and all the things she needed to accomplish.  She arrived at work, went about her day, and realized when she came to her car to go home that her daughter was still in the car seat.

 

Her purpose of engaging in the interview and having the article published was to help people understand how this could happen and how it can be prevented.  For her, she believes that the process of “visualizing” the drop off of her daughter made her mind believe that it actually happened.  When her mind switched to thinking about work, it was convinced that her other responsibilities had been completed.  This is the power of visualization, and of a distracted mind.

 

But I feel the most important aspect of the article were the strategies for prevention.  The mother went on to have other children and talked openly about the steps she now takes to ensure she does not relive this tragedy.  She explained that she always makes sure she puts something in the back seat with her children.  Her purse, work bag, lunch. This requires her to enter the back seat of her car when getting out.  Or, the opposite could also work – put a diaper bag, toy or child backpack in the front seat to cue you to their presence.  This mother also said she has asked her child care providers to call her directly if her children are not dropped off on time, as expected.  Lastly, when putting her children in their car seat she puts on a bracelet that is kept in the seat.  She takes it off when getting them out. This serves as a visual cue, but has also become part of her new car seat routine that will reinforce a new behavior (put the bracelet back in the car seat when leaving the vehicle, making her access the seat).

 

According to WebMD “there is no safe amount of time to leave a child (or pet) in a car”.  The temperature inside a car can rise or fall exponentially faster than the temperature outside, as your car functions as a greenhouse.  Just get in your car on a hot day and try to breathe.  Preventing child death from being left in a car is possible, and parents need to be wary of new routines, changes in schedules, and the cognitive process of remembering multiple things.  And most of all, don’t be naïve enough to believe the self-fulfilling “this could never happen to me” phenomenon.  Any oversight, regardless of how significant, can happen to us all.

 

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Daily Dose of Inspiration

“And even when you’ve paid enough, been pulled apart or been held up.  With every single memory of the good or bad faces of luck.  Don’t lose any sleep tonight, I’m sure everything will end up alright.  You may win or lose; but to be yourself is all that you can do.”

“Be Yourself” by Audioslave

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Reduce Your Risk: Eat Breakfast

It is said that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” as it helps to wake us, provides fuel throughout the day, and can boost metabolism and energy, but do you realize how truly important this first meal may be?  Researchers have found a link which shows that, especially in men, skipping breakfast on a regular basis can increase the risk of heart attacks.  Why?  Because skipping breakfast can lead to higher cholesterol, higher blood pressure and obesity.  In an article from CBC News Health, the study which shows this important link is discussed.  Is it time for you to change your eating habits and ensure you are starting your day properly?

 

CBC News: Skipping breakfast may increase heart attack risk

 

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Can You Traffic Circle?

Working with people injured in car accidents is a straight path to insanity when I start to think about my own kids behind the wheel.  I am not sure I will ever feel comfortable with them borrowing the car, getting a ride with others, or even taking their siblings anywhere.  I apologize to my kids in advance for being a basket case when we get there.

 

But the fact that I now allow my 13 year old to ride in the front seat has made me acutely aware of the very important responsibility I have to model safe driving.  She watches me drive, asks questions, and is trying to understand the rules of the road.  I have three years to demonstrate to her how important it is to take this privilege seriously, and what safe driving looks like.

 

The problem is this:  driving, like many daily tasks, becomes highly overlearned.  This means that the brain can manage it without really “thinking”.  That explains why sometimes you might arrive somewhere, somewhat oblivious to the path you took to get there, or the sights you saw on the way.  This is especially true if the brain is distracted en route – via phone calls, checking messages at a stop light, enjoying breakfast, belting out your favorite tune, or talking to a passenger. So driving, as a skill, is something we can do without a lot of conscious thought and our behaviors when driving become more and more ingrained as we log more hours behind the wheel.

 

In being hyper-diligent about this new responsibility to model safe driving for my daughter, I have become attuned to some of the bad habits people have developed.  Some people drive too fast, some too slow (I see these as equally dangerous).  Some don’t signal, and some don’t turn the signal off.  Some people are too aggressive, too risky, and too impatient.  Others are too nervous, lack confidence, or don’t seem to recognize how dangerous it is to be hesitant and unpredictable.  Too many people are still holding their phone to their ear, or think that using the speakerphone instead of a headset is less-illegal (it is not if the phone is still in your hand).  People are still texting or emailing when driving, usually while controlling the steering wheel with their knees (if that were safe people without arms would do that too).  I see many people (especially in my neighborhood) that don’t “stop” at stop signs, but kind of “roll” through them – often after they have crossed the stopping line, and the sidewalk curb cut, and are already entering the intersection.  Pedestrians beware.  Traffic circles are another new problem.  When I was 16, my driver’s ed classes did not include “traffic circle 101” and based on how the teens drive near the high school in my neighborhood, I am not sure it does now either.  All too often I see people cut the circle, or when going straight fail to yield to someone already making a turn.  But the best (worst) thing I saw recently was a guy with a mini-van who was trying to transport his new mattress by holding this to the roof of his car with his left hand (while driving with his right).  Luckily when the mattress flew off into the traffic behind him, it didn’t cause an accident.

 

Motor vehicle accidents are one of the top five leading causes of death and injury for Canadian adults and children.  Getting a license at 16, that is not reviewed again until 80, should not be an automatic ticket to oblivion.  Take a moment to review your own habits behind the wheel.  Old habits die hard, and you don’t want these to kill you, or anyone else.  And if you are driving children, remember that little eyes are watching you and your children are likely to drive just like you – good or bad.

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Gardening Ergonomics

Do you have, or are aspiring to have, a “green thumb” ?  Or do you simply enjoy spending time beautifying your home or spending time connecting with nature?  Whether you garden for pleasure or purpose you may from time to time suffer from a sore back and achy muscles brought on by the hard work and bending involved.  The following article from the Toronto Star gives helpful tips on how to ergonomically garden without ending up with a sore back.

 

The Toronto Star: How to avoid back pain while gardening

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Attendant Care for “Normal”?

Like “happiness”, the word “normal” is one of those subjective words defined differently by all.  Yet, in the world of disability, “normal” becomes a question.  Can someone “live a normal life”, or are they “back to normal”?  How do you answer these questions when normal is so hard to define? 

 

On a recent holiday, I witnessed a woman with a disability engage in compelling acts of what I call “normal”.  I was so taken by this that I had to take the below picture.  What do you notice?  The location of the wheelchair makes the owner of this unidentifiable.  This was not an isolated event.  Everyday I would see this wheelchair stashed somewhere – off to the side, in a deserted hallway, or almost out of sight.  The wheelchair was so far removed from the person that it could never “define her” and really was just a means of transportation.  I would watch her husband wheel her to the poolside, into the restaurant, or out in the theatre then she would transfer to a “normal” chair and he would move her wheelchair out of sight.  True, maybe they just wanted this out of the way, but if the goal was practicality, she would not have taken the time and effort to transfer when sitting in the wheelchair for most things would be easier.

 

I believe that this woman just wanted to feel “normal”.  She didn’t want to be recognized by her chair, and wanted to experience the world the way non-disabled people do – sitting on a pool lounger, in a dining chair, on a couch, or even in the water on a floaty.  And who allowed this to happen?  Her husband.  He pushed her around the resort, secured her chair for transfers, moved this out of the way, and re-secured it when changing locations. I also saw him carry her in and out of the pool so she could float in the water, and he was her personal waiter for drinks, food and other items she needed that she could not obtain herself.  In my world this is a perfect example of attendant care.  Transfers, mobility, equipment maintenance, and ensuring comfort and security are all parts of the current form used by Occupational Therapists in auto (and WSIB) to calculate attendant care.  So, let’s not underestimate the time someone might take to help someone feel “normal”, whatever that means to that person, in that environment and at that time.  I believe “facilitating normal” is a valuable and important part of being an attendant and should be fairly represented in our calculations of care.