Goal 3: Implement the knowledge of occupational therapy and adaptive fashion in order to promote adaptive design and advocacy as described in the literature.
Lastly, the process of landing exemplifies the completion of the flight and the successful arrival at the destination. Correspondingly, the successful landing of my flight is determined by my ability to educate others on adaptive fashion, the achievement of my professional goals, and the completion of my Post-Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy coursework and artifacts. Although there may have been turbulence during the flight, the victorious landing is what motivates me to repeat the process and continue traveling, continue learning, and continue growing.
Artifact 1: Adaptive Hanbok
Artifact 2: Publications
Artifact 3: In Service: Pediatric Adaptive Apparel
Reflection
The Dress & Textiles in World Cultures course offered at NYU was an elective I enrolled in to gain a fresh perspective on dress across cultures around the world. This course introduced me to the terminology of clothing, traditions and rituals behind patterns and designs, and the cultural appropriation that is commonly seen in today’s high fashion world. While reflecting on the societal views of clothing in Asian cultures, I began to wonder how this relates to stigma with disability in Asian cultures. We learned more about the hanbok in this course, which is a traditional formal attire worn in Korea. The adaptive hanbok then came to mind when I learned that my great aunt has been becoming increasingly fatigued from her diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). My great aunt, a businesswoman and one of the most active women I know, was struggling to maintain her independence and ability to express her style through dress. Due to the pandemic, my great aunt has been staying indoors more often. To help increase her self-esteem and participation in upcoming formal occasions (i.e., New Year’s), my sister, who is an artist with designing and sewing skills, decided to team up to create a hanbok that will help my great aunt feel like herself. This process was indicative of my ability to create adaptive apparel with others using my clinical knowledge as an occupational therapist. Although we invited my great aunt to partake in the design process, she did not want to be involved until the end and trusted my sister and me to design the hanbok based on our initial assessment. Prior to our evaluation, I made assumptions about what my great aunt would or would not be able to do based on the textbook signs of ALS. I then learned that what I expected was quite different than what was observed. I reminded myself that it is optimal to address functional deficits with an open mind rather than assuming the level of ability of an individual. I applied the knowledge I have learned over the past year regarding the customization, aesthetic considerations, and affordability of adaptive apparel through this artifact. I am able to confidently say that I can assist in the design process of adaptive apparel through evidence-based techniques and professional experience.
While taking Professor Mark Surabian’s Assistive Technology: Learning and Participation in the School course, I began to learn how many free online resources and applications there were for individuals with disabilities to use. I became interested in learning more about web accessibility and how occupational therapists address the challenges faced with the occupation of shopping. Since adaptive apparel is primarily sold online, I saw the correlation between web accessibility and adaptive fashion. For my final paper and presentation in the course, I discussed the topic of web accessibility and adaptive fashion. Consequently, I became determined to spread this knowledge beyond my 15 or so classmates and reached out to The OT Practice Magazine for publication. It was to my surprise when my paper was accepted by The OT Practice Magazine. I was excited that my paper would be published in a magazine in the United Kingdom. This publication reassured me that people do care about this topic and that it should be something that is advocated for more often. I firmly believe that this topic is something that needs to be discussed more often and am happy that it has reached readers internationally.
When I was pursuing my master’s degree in occupational therapy, I knew that assistive technology would be something I would provide to my future clients. The idea of taking a simple object and transforming it into a device to help a specific individual was a challenge I found fascinating. However, I was not fully exposed to adaptive apparel until after I completed my master’s degree. Looking back, had I found my passion for adaptive fashion then, I would have been able to promote the industry significantly more through my fieldwork rotations and school assignments. Thus, my publication in the AOTA Student Pulse eNewsletter on helping occupational therapy students incorporate adaptive apparel in their treatment plans and in-services is meaningful to me. This publication forced me to critically think about how to explain adaptive apparel to occupational therapy students. I believe this helped me by thinking like an instructor and applying my knowledge to be able to break down the considerations of adaptive apparel. While writing about adaptive fashion in an educational manner was challenging, this publication enhanced my ability to describe and advocate for adaptive apparel in simpler terms. I hope to carry these skills with me in future works and in my pursuit of working in academia.
Lastly, during my transition from working mostly in adult care to fully pediatric care, I felt lost. I wanted to latch onto what is comfortable for me as a practitioner, which is applying clinical knowledge to adult rehabilitation. Once I was hired by my current employer, I went through training to receive my temporary Illinois Early Intervention Credential. This supported my knowledge of working with families in a collaborative manner and understanding optimal ways of communicating with them. It also gave me the confidence to apply my knowledge of the pediatric side of adaptive apparel and how it can be introduced to families. Then, I took a chance to disseminate my findings by volunteering to present an in-service on pediatric adaptive apparel for my company. I felt that this would be an opportunity to get to know the occupational therapy team, highlight the knowledge obtained during my doctoral studies, and emphasize the importance of supporting the adaptive fashion industry. I wanted to help my colleagues spread awareness by implementing this knowledge with their clients and families. Overall, I felt that my supervisor and colleagues responded to the content better than expected. I was happily surprised when my colleagues asked questions about using these skills in their own practice, how to learn more about adaptive apparel, and my rationale for choosing to focus my doctoral degree on this topic. While some of the therapists were unable to attend the in-service, I emailed the presentation and a handout with resources on adaptive apparel to the occupational therapy team. This was to ensure that the knowledge would continue to be spread and that the therapists would be able to refer back to these resources when working with their clients. I also sent them a link to an evaluation form I created regarding feedback on the content of the presentation, my presentation skills, and their personal interests in adaptive apparel. A section of the survey results was surprising to me because I expected a stronger response towards the respondents’ interests in working with fashion brands to create adaptive apparel. However, I realized that it is important to keep in mind that every clinician has their own professional interests; there is still room to apply clinical knowledge to practice regardless of one’s relationship with adaptive fashion brands. In the end, I am glad that I decided to conduct an in-service on this topic, as it resonated with experienced clinicians more than I expected.