Autism,employment, and the role of occupational therapy

The purpose of this article is to review the existing literature to generate guidelines for the role of occupational therapy in employment for persons with autism. Previous research about strengths and barriers to employment, and types of employment commonly offered to persons with autism are reviewed. The supported employment model is identified as the most productive approach for use with this population. The four approaches to the supported employment model and the best practice contributions of several innovative supported employment programs are discussed. The interdisciplinary team approach is best to assist persons with autism to gain employment and ensure success on the job. The role of the occupational therapist as a beneficial team member in assessment, job development, job placement and training, and supported employment is outlined.     

A teaching model for work practice in occupational therapy

Given the global changes in how work is conceptualized, organized and performed [8], it is critical that graduating occupational therapists have an up-to-date knowledge of work and work practice. This article briefly explores the relative dearth of work practice courses in current occupational therapy curricula and presents the rationale for developing a model for teaching and learning about occupational therapy work practice. It introduces a client-centered and occupation-focused model developed for an undergraduate work practice course and describes the use of the model in a specific course. The model identifies eight common work-related areas of concern - values clarification, vocational exploration, vocational choice, job search, starting work, maintaining work, returning to work and leaving work. Occupational Therapy tools, techniques and programs which may be useful in addressing these concerns; and the environmental factors that influence therapist and client in addressing work issues are also part of the model. The article concludes with examples of topics and issues which could be explored using this teaching and learning model.     

Adolescent aggression: The role of peer group status motives,peer aggression,and group characteristics

Recent studies of youth aggression have emphasized the role of network-based peer influence processes. Other scholars have suggested that aggression is often motivated by status concerns. We integrate these two veins of research by considering the effects of peer status motivations on subsequent adolescent aggression, net of their own status motivations, prior aggression, and peer behavior. We also explore different levels at which peer effects may occur, considering the effects of reciprocated and unreciprocated friendships as well as larger, meso-level peer groups. We anticipate that peer group effects are magnified by both size and boundedness as measured by Freeman's (1972) segregation index. We find that, net of the adolescent's aggression at time 1, both the aggressive behaviors and the status valuations of friends independently increase the likelihood of aggression at time 2, 6 months later. The aggressive behavior of friends who do not reciprocate the adolescent's friendship nomination has particular impact. The average status valuation of peer groups increases their members’ likelihood of aggression, even after controlling for their own attitudes about status, their friends’ attitudes, and their friends’ aggressive behavior. This effect is magnified in large groups and groups with high Freeman segregation scores.     

HIV/AIDS and work: The implications for occupational therapy

Improvements in preventive and rehabilitative care have transformed many cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) from being an absolute fatal disease to a chronic, expensive illness. As survival rates and life expectancy increase for people with HIV/AIDS, work plays a more central role in improving their quality of life [5]. Persons with HIV/AIDS face numerous physical challenges in maintaining employment. Signs and symptoms of HIV infection and related opportunistic infections include fatigue, muscle weakness, neuropathy and decreased sensation, bowel and bladder incontinence, persistent cough, weight loss, decreased range of motion and coordination, limited endurance, cardiac problems and vision loss. Occupational therapy practitioners must identify the unique impact they can make on a client's quality of life by addressing work-related issues faced by the HIV/AIDS population.     

Violence prevention in the schools: Implications for occupational therapy

The prevalence of violence in the United States has begun to take its toll on the youth in schools. As children spend the majority of their waking hours in school, it is there that programs to prevent violence should be implemented. Various factors compiled from the literature including traits of children "at risk", lack of adult supervision, and architectural barriers, are identified as contributing to on-campus crime. Skills training for educators, school officials, parents, and children, in addition to reduction of architectural barriers, are discussed as methods to promote awareness and prevention. Implications for occupational therapy practitioners are discussed.     

Technological knowledge,curriculum and occupational role potential*

This paper examines technological curricula in terms of their potential to be realized in occupational roles. The more the curriculum is oriented towards roles (as opposed to skills or pure knowledge), the greater the probability that it will be articulated in the labour market and the greater its efficacy and legitimacy. The concept of role has been analytically divided into six components: value commitment, normative, communicative, interactive, role intelligence and proficiency components. Theoretically, the more components are present in a given curriculum, the higher the probability that a given occupational role will be effectively articulated. However, their presence is a necessary but insufficient condition for effective role performance; their integration is of equal, if not greater importance, and the latter is meaningful only when the social context of the articulation is taken into account. It was found that the role components do not appear in a balanced manner in technological curricula investigated in Israel, and some hardly receive any attention. Those that are present are weakly linked to actual economic contexts. Thus, it appears that students in technological education, are socialized to minimal role articulation; ie, they are more likely to implement decontextualized tasks than to assume integral occupational roles.     

Partnering for workplace health and safety

Worker involvement in decision-making about the workplace can improve safety, health, productivity and the quality of organizational outputs. Australian work health and safety (WHS) legislation mandates worker involvement and gives elected Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) specific powers, but there has been limited research about the impact of that regulatory framework on the nature, quality and outcomes of worker involvement. As part of a wider review of worker representation in WHS, we investigated the role and impact (positive and negative) of elected HSRs on WHS] in South Australia using a newly-constructed survey instrument. This paper reports on the development of the instrument and the initial findings of the research. The initial survey dimensions and items were developed from earlier research on consultation in South Australia and were refined and validated through this research. The survey has 9 constructs and 61 items and has both face validity and high internal consistency. This research is a step forward for researchers and policy makers seeking a means of determining the effectiveness of worker participation in WHS. It provides an instrument, pilot baseline data and a method that could be used internationally to enable this assessment.     

Reducing child aggression through sports intervention: The role of self-control skills and emotions

This study examined how sports intervention may reduce aggressive behaviors in children (Grades 3–6), focusing on the relations between acquisition of self-control skills (SCSs) and aggressive behavior through the mediation of thoughts (i.e., hostility) and emotions (i.e., positive and negative). In a sample of 649 Israeli children, 50% were assigned to an experimental group and the remainder to a waitlisted control group. As hypothesized, children in the experimental group reported significantly larger gains in SCSs and significantly larger decreases in physical aggression, hostile thoughts, and negative emotions. Results of structural equation modeling suggested that SCS gains were linked to changes in hostile thoughts, as mediated by changes in both positive and negative emotions. In addition, changes in hostile thoughts were linked to changes in physical aggression through the mediation of changes in anger. Among girls, changes in SCSs were linked directly to changes in physical aggression (with no indirect effect), whereas among boys, changes in SCSs were linked indirectly to changes in physical aggression, through changes in positive and negative emotions. Findings contribute to understanding of possible mechanisms underlying the associations between children's self-control and aggression, with particular implications for the roles of positive and negative emotions.     

A survey of occupational therapy in Australian work practice

While the prevention and management of work-related injuries are major areas of practice for Australian occupational therapists, there has been little research on occupational therapy's contribution in these areas. This study examined the characteristics of current Australian occupational therapy practice in the work arena. A postal questionnaire was sent to 355 occupational therapists employed in work practice from six of the eight state or territory Occupational Therapy Associations. The questionnaire enquired about demographic details, service provision in the prevention, assessment and rehabilitation areas and further education needs in these areas. The responses of 125 (35%) therapists were analysed and show the services commonly offered in prevention, assessment and rehabilitation. The most commonly offered services included job analyses, workplace assessment and suitable duties programs. The results also indicate high levels of service provision in the workplace. In presenting the findings of the survey, current trends in international and Australian occupational therapy work practice are discussed along with suggestions for directions in future education, practice and research.     

Safe patient handling curriculum in occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant programs: A descriptive study of school curriculum within the United States of America

The purpose of this study was to identify safe patient handling (SPH) curricular content in accredited occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant programs in the United States of America. A survey was emailed to 155 accredited occupational therapy and 137 accredited occupational therapy assistant programs. With a 39% response rate, most programs addressed SPH curricula by including lectures and lab-based experiences with gait belts, slide boards, and manual transfers while stressing ‘safe’ body mechanics. There were limited responses regarding curricular-based hands-on experience, evaluation of sit-to-stand lifts, how to safely transfer bariatric persons, and information on “no-lift” policies. While occupational therapists have a central role in teaching SPH to caregivers, it is important to enhance SPH curricula to reduce exposure to musculoskeletal risk, thereby, increasing the health and safety of the occupational therapy workforce as well those whom the profession serves.     

The role of sadism and peer pressure in the sexual aggression of male college students

Two types of motivational models help explain sexual aggression in college men. Socialization models emphasize imperatives of the male sex role, whereas a sadistic model focuses on increased sexual stimulation from female distress. These models were evaluated by comparing the relationship between a measure of sexual sadism and the frequency of sexually aggressive episodes with the relationship between peer pressure for sexual intimacy and sexual aggression. College men's ratings of sexual attractiveness for a series of female faces registering both pleasant and distressed affects were used to measure sexual sadism. Results showed that 60% of the college men with a sexual sadism pattern reported repeated episodes of sexual aggression since the 10th grade, whereas only 29% of those not showing this pattern did so. Peer pressure was inversely related to repeated aggression; sexual aggressives reported less peer pressure than students who did not have a history of repeated aggression. These results are not only important because they identify a possible source of sexual aggression toward females but also because they encourage an interest in discovering how sexual and aggressive motives become fused in a significant proportion of normal males.     

Masculine gender role stress and men's fear of emotions as predictors of self-reported aggression and violence

To test the hypothesis that relationship violence may be related to men's fear of emotions, a secondary data analysis examined a sample of 155 male students attending an Eastern urban university. The men had been assessed using measures of masculine gender role stress, fear of emotions, and self-reported perpetration of relationship violence. Men's fear of emotion predicted relationship violence beyond what was accounted for masculine gender role stress. In addition, men's fear of emotions was found to partially mediate the relationship between masculine gender role stress and relationship violence. Results are discussed in terms of implications for future research and clinical interventions.     

Disabling Ideology in Health and Welfare - the case of occupational therapy

In this paper it is argued, on the basis of an analysis of data from interviews with practitioners, that the rhetoric of partnership and the 'holistic' approach employed by Occupational Therapists is to be understood as an ideology which serves the occupation's professionalising project. It functions to distinguish Occupational Therapy from other health and welfare specialisms, to perpetuate the notion that disability is an individual problem to which professional intervention can provide the solution, and to ascribe responsibility for any perceived failure in therapy to the client rather than the practitioner.