Labour vs Work

Creek and Lawson-Porter (2007 p.99) define Labour as: “Mere activity characterised by necessity and futility. The goods produced by labour are consumed and have no enduring quality. A man is not free whose life is totally absorbed in labour. His energies are spent in response to necessity, under the aegis of forces outside himself, forces he cannot control. He is not master of himself as he is himself mastered”.

Creek and Lawson-Porter (2007 p.99) also define work as: an “activity producing an enduring object. Work requires self-investment, skill, craft and personal judgement. Work is purposeful and meaningful. Work is distinct from labour and often must be discovered independently from one’s job”.

Labour fits into my activity of cooking as at the end of the day it is needed for survival and fulfilment however, one can argue that there are components of my cooking that fit within work. When I am baking a friend’s birthday cake a lot of meaningful thought goes into both the preparation and creation of the cake. Baking a cake for my friend is not necessarily done for survival it is more done for pure enjoyment and as a purpose of a gift. Creek and Lawson-Porter (2007) refer to the idea of labours of love: “the difference love makes, the difference in seeing a task in one’s sensed community, as part of one’s creation, imagination and autobiography” (p.99). This concept relates well with my love towards baking birthday cakes for my friends and how in this case it is not necessarily done for necessity.

References:

Creek, J., & Lawson-Porter, A. (Eds.). (2007). Contemporary Issues in Occupational Therapy (p. 99). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.    

Practical Considerations

According to Christiansen & Townsend (2004,) practical considerations can be defined as: objects and tools necessary to engage successfully in occupations. When relating this quote back to my activity of cooking it is clear to say that practical considerations play an important role in my cooking.

A couple of months ago my street’s power was cut due to a faulty cable that was situated at the end of my driveway. We were told by the power company that unfortunately we were going to be out of power for at least a couple of days due the fact they had to dig up the ground and replace the cable. This really affected life in general however, the most frustrating thing was it made cooking and preparing dinner EXTREMELY difficult. I vaguely remember getting home from Tec and opening the fridge up to start preparing a roast chicken for that evening, my head was full of thoughts regarding Tec and I stupidly pulled the chicken and put it into the roasting dish (without clicking that there was actually no power). I seasoned the chicken with mixed herbs and a touch of salt and pepper and walked to the oven to turn it on however, soon enough realised that THERE WAS NO POWER……DURRRRRRRRRR! This obviously affected the fact that I was going to have to accept roast chicken was a write off for the night and I had to be extremely creative with what I was going to prepare for dinner. This example shows that in this case the practical consideration of the oven played an important role in the success of my dinner that night and without the oven this meal could not be prepared and therefore was obviously not consumed.

These two days without power felt like the longest days of my life and I can easily say that I defiantly learnt how to adapt with limited resources!

References:

Christiansen, C. & Townsend, E. (2004). Introduction to Occupation: The Art and Science of Living. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

Ambience

According to Webster (2011), ambience can be defined as: a feeling or mood associated with a particular place, person or thing. "Ambience describes the feeling created by a particular nature of an activity when it is being done for itself" (Butler, personal communication, 2011).
In relation to my activity of cooking my mood and feelings are important factors that influence how I cook and feel about myself as a person. In my first post: Participation in Occupation 2 – Activity: Cooking, I discussed how my mood can play a significant role on how much effort and time I put into my cooking. The atmosphere and the people apart of this environment when I enter the kitchen often can trigger many different moods and either inspire me to want to create or put me off the idea of preparing and cooking a dish.

For example on Sunday night I had invited family friends over to come and watch the All Black’s play their rugby semi-final for the World Cup. Everyone arrived in a very happy and excited mood dressed in their black and white. This immediately put me in a joyful mood and I wanted to make a dessert for everyone to celebrate the achievement of our mighty men in black! I started creating my apple pie and my visitors mingled in the kitchen to keep me company when I was making the dessert. We started to laugh and joke around and the atmosphere sent off a relaxing and happy vibe. According to de Lore and Brooke-White (2000), in any home the kitchen is often the place where friends and family congregate. Conversations, gossip humour and ideas flow freely in the relaxed atmosphere of the kitchen. I wanted to share this quote as I feel it fits nicely with my story I have shared in this post and reinforces that the ambience of this environment influenced my mood and feelings when participating in my activity of cooking.

References:

de Lore,  C. & Brook-White, J. (2000).  Every kitchen tells a story.  New Zealand: HarperCollins Publishers

Webster, M. (2011). Ambience. Retrieved October 19^th 2011 from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambience

Affordances & Cooking

According to Hagedorn (2000, p.51) affordance is described as “anything which the environment can offer the individual which is pertinent to the role challenge and can facilitate role competence”.

When relating this quote to my activity of cooking I start to think about the connections between memories while I am cooking.  Last week I was studying with one of my fellow class mates and we were both complaining how hungry we were.  I felt obliged to feed our hungry tummies so I opened up the cupboard and spotted a can of sweet corn and a memory triggered. I could hear Mum’s voice in my head..…”Alex come and watch me make these sweet corn fritters they are so easy and would be great to know how to cook when you’re flatting”. I gathered the ingredients and heard her voice talking me through the steps on making them………Beat two eggs into a bowl, add the can of corn and so on.  My fellow class mate admired me as I created the corn fritters and insisted on me writing down the recipe for her.  This showed how I communicated at a teacher/ learner relationship level.

We both sat down together and enjoyed the taste of the delicious golden brown sweet corn fritters (Joy). I was pleased with the end product and felt proud that I had managed to successfully create these just the way Mum does. I didn’t want the meal to end as in the corner of my eye I could see the dirty dishes piled up on the bench and knew I had to clean them (burden). I stalled for at least half an hour before I had the energy to get up and clean the mess. These are all aspects that fall under the ethics component of affordances.

References:

Hagedorn, R (2000). Tools for Practice in Occupational Therapy: A Structured Approach to Core Skills and Processes. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone

What is ergonomics?.........

According to Caulton and Dickson (2007, p.93), “ergonomics underpins the ability to constantly make slight invisible adjustments to an activity to adapt to the needs of those taking part and ensure that it continues to work for its intended purpose”.  When reading this quote I understand ergonomics as fitting the individual to suit the needs required to undertake the activity engaged in.  In relation to my activity of cooking, ergonomics is an important factor as it influences my sense of satisfaction after creating a dish. A tidy environment is essential for me when I am creating in the kitchen.  If I approach a messy kitchen my motivation to explore and try new things decreases and I am less likely to feel that great sense of “achievement”!

When I take myself back to last week when I decided to create a new dish. I got into the car at 4pm after a long day studying and felt like a needed a break, I needed to use my brain on something that wasn’t study related. As I was driving home I decided I was going to create “cat spews” a sweet treat a girl at work had given me the recipe for. Yes I know the name doesn’t do much in terms of advertising but believe me these delicious treats taste a million dollars. As I drove home I gathered in my head the ingredients I needed: white chocolate, coconut, cranberries, corn flakes….Check!! I was looking forward to getting home pulling my sleeves up and getting into it UNTILL……I walked in the door and saw that the kitchen was in a mess!! Grrrr immediately I was put off from engaging in this activity. I thought to myself ( I don’t want to waste all my energy on tidying up before cooking). The physical environment is a huge aspect for me to consider when cooking and this is a component of ergonomics.

References:

Caulton, R. & Dickson, R.  (2007).  What’s going on? Finding an explanation for what we do.  In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.), Contemporary issues in occupational therapy (pp. 87-114).  Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

 

 

Participation In Occupation 2 - Mindfulness Cooking

The purpose of this post is to share my previous experiences of cooking and what this activity means to me personally as an Occupational therapy student. I will also discuss how the activity of cooking may be used in my future practice in the big wide world as a qualified Occupational Therapist......(Woah scary thought!!).

I have many previous memories of cooking with Mum when I was a young child as well as memories of myself lingering around the kitchen smelling all the delicious food that was being prepared or cooked for the family!  I have always taken interest in the activity of cooking and today I really enjoy experimenting and creating new and exciting dishes, (that’s of course when I can find the time around my study). However, some days I find myself really struggling to find the motivation to cook or create a meal. On the other hand, when I have the energy and am inspired to cook I get a huge sense of satisfaction on what I have created!

I think for me as an Occupational therapy student, cooking is important to accomplish and manage as it is an extremely important activity of daily living (one that I must carry on doing throughout my entire life). Not only does cooking continuously teach me new skills and provide me with enjoyment it also provides me with opportunities to bond with future clients when out in the big OT world!

Mood changes frequently and when I am in the right ‘head space’ to cook it really can make a difference in how the food tastes and looks. I am a lot more mindful with my cooking when I am inspired and enjoying doing it rather than trying to slap something together quickly to get it over and done with!

Tutorial Eight: Assistive Technology

The purpose of this blog is to provide a description of assistive technology including practical examples of the use, function and availability of one piece of assistive technology. 

Assistive technology are products, devices, or equipment used to maintain, increase or improve the functional capacities of impaired individuals (Gerard, 2001). I interpret this definition as something that is put into place to help aid an impaired individual for example: Recording devices used for individuals who have impaired memory.

One of the assistive technology devices that Kev introduced to me in the tutorial was a Track Ball. This is a mouse alternative device in which is most often used by individuals who have an upper limb impairment such as: restricted movement in hands, R.S.I, arthritis, head injury affecting upper limbs, injury impairing upper limbs and impairment from birth affecting fine and gross motor skills.

This piece of equipment can increase occupational capacity for the individual using it as they don't need to physically move the mouse around in order to move the curser the way they want to on the screen. There are big buttons designed used for clicking and if the individual has poor functioning in the hands it can also be controlled by the feet. Rather than rolling the mouse on the table top it is a static device, with the ball on the top being moved using fingers, thumbs and palms.(See image below)

http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/product/bigtrack

The price of one of these mouses can vary depending on the brand, however they range from about $80 - $160 dollars.

Here is a link to a youtube video which talks about different individuals with different disabilities. One of the individuals in this video is a administrative assistant who has Cerebral Palsy and Dyslexia. She talks about the her devices including the Track ball as one. Check it out!

For component two of this assignment: Technology Application Report, I will be using a different technology device.

References:

Gerard, D. (2001). What is Assistive Technology. Retrieved April 4, 2011 from: http://www.rehabtool.com/forum/discussions/1.html

Spectronics. (2011). A giant trackball mouse alternative for computer users enabling easy and accurate mouse movements. Retrieved April 13, 2011 from: http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/product/bigtrack