[00:00:00] Olivia: Welcome to Schoolutions, where listening will leave you inspired by solutions to issues you or others you know may be struggling with in the public education system today. I am Olivia Wahl, and I am excited to welcome my guest today, Colleen Beck, the creator and author of The OT Toolbox. Let me tell you a little bit about Colleen.
[00:00:26] Olivia: Colleen Beck has been an occupational therapist since the year 2000. As the creator and author of The OT Toolbox since 2011, she has written thousands of blog posts on occupational therapy and created thousands of accessible resources and tools for therapy professionals. Colleen strives to advocate for the profession as well as the children, families, and educators she serves on The OT Toolbox's social media channels. I will make sure to list Colleen's other wonderful publications in the episode show notes. I am honored to welcome you as a guest on Schoolutions, Colleen. This is a dream come true. Thank you so much.
[00:01:10] Colleen: Thank you for having me. Yeah. I'm excited to be here.
[00:01:12] Olivia: Yeah, your work has inspired me for years. I share with all - anyone and everyone that will listen in school settings. And I just, I think this is a really important conversation to be had. Um, before we jump in, I always ask guests to share an inspiring educator from their lives. Would you be willing to speak to that?
[00:01:37] Colleen: Sure. My most important educator has to be my fieldwork instructor. When I was in OT school, you have to do a level one and a level two clinical field work. My level two instructor was Elizabeth Skidmore. She was an OT then. And over the years, she just was so, such a motivator. She was very like encouraging. She got to the heart of why I was in OT and just encourage that. Um, and then she moved on to be a professor at the University of Pittsburgh and then moved up to the head of the OT department. And now she's a Dean of Research with the School of Health and Rehabilitation. So it's just so impressive to see her move through the profession and encourage so many students along the way. And it's just still encouraging to me.
[00:02:32] Olivia: That’s huge. Well, here's the thing you have inspired thousands, millions of people worldwide. And you started out of a need to get information, make it accessible, um, and while staying at home and raising your beautiful family. And so I just huge kudos to you. And I want to name the issue. Um, one reason I'm super excited to have you as a guest. There are not enough accessible resources and materials for caregivers as well as therapists out there. And you offer that, um, in a myriad of ways. Your website alone is a vast resource. Um, and I'll, we'll make sure to illuminate that as well. But I want to use your words just to highlight that you are a solution as a human being. Your website is a solution and The OT toolbox. And so this, I think, is really important for folks to understand.
[00:03:34] Olivia: Um, and this is right from your site: “The kids we serve as therapy providers are the world changers. When we support their needs and the family's needs and the educators needs, we are having a ripple of support that expands and does not stop.”
[00:03:54] Olivia: Yes! It's so inspiring…so inspiring. So talk to listeners. Share your story. I just gave a nugget, but what brought you to being the creator of The OT toolbox?
[00:04:09] Colleen: Yeah, I was working in OT for many years. I had two children and one on the way. And I was looking for childcare. So at that point I had been making a pretty good amount as a therapist after working for so long and putting three kids in childcare just was not going to work. I would make $3 an hour – literally, after paying for childcare. So, I had to step back and raise my kids for a little bit.
[00:04:41] Colleen: And that was the plan. But I was doing things with my kids at home, like playing with them on the floor, like an OT would. And so I just started taking pictures and putting them on a blog and then writing about what we were doing and why we were doing it. And the pictures were very grainy and like from 2007 camera, you know, and just explaining what we were doing and why we're doing these things and how it was supporting and how other people, parents could do the same things with things they have in their home. And so it really just, that was the beginning. That was just my intention is just sharing what we were doing, and then it just grew from there.
[00:05:22] Colleen: And each year it grew bigger and bigger and bigger. And so I just started providing more resources, more activities, um, talking more towards the therapists that would need ideas or out-of-the-box activities, things they could do with kids at home with parents or recommend to parents. Um, and then I started pulling in my experience as a school-based OT to talk to the teachers that are working with kids as they grow. And as my kids grew, I could work on more things. I could work on cursive handwriting as they got to that age and then, you know, teenage stuff. So it just kind of grew with my life, really, with my, my kids’s growth.
[00:06:05] Olivia: Well, it's so, it's so beautiful. Um, and for those that are listening that may not even understand, you know, what is the role of an occupational therapist? Let's pause and define that for people.
[00:06:17] Colleen: Yeah, it's kind of a misunderstood profession for a lot of people. Um, occupational therapy works - it's a health profession, but we work on helping people achieve goals. So, it could be in any aspect. We could work in schools, home care, outpatient, with adults - all range of ages. And really the main goal is to support people with daily life activities. And it's whatever is important to a person; that's what we're working on. With kids, we're working to improve milestone achievement, um, things that make them who they are. If they're working on, need to work on handwriting or cutting with scissors in the school, that's what we're working on. It might be social and emotional needs, self regulation needs, sensory processing. It's the whole gamut. OT works on the occupations of your daily life, which is the things that occupy your time. Um, and it takes in the whole person. So it's emotional, social, cognitive, physical, all of those different things. So it's a really unique profession and I love it.
[00:07:27] Olivia: Well, and it shows it shines through your work and just the, the footprint you're putting out there in the world is tremendous. Um, I see the impact that OTs have, a positive impact on children daily in schools. You know, if you're struggling to get the written word out and communicate your messaging, that's really frustrating. And so honing all of those skill sets. Um, and I know you're a huge advocate for play, which makes me love you a little extra, Colleen. It's a big deal. Um, so one of my favorite things about the structure of your website and your offerings, you actually have specific toolboxes designed for therapists, for teachers, for caregivers. Can you speak to those toolboxes and how they work?
[00:08:16] Colleen: Yeah, so I strive to support all of the people that are on the team of a child. So that could be the therapist who is looking for some fresh ideas, or maybe they're just, they've been a therapist for a long time, they need something different, something new to try.
[00:08:34] Colleen: So I try to speak to that person with the OT toolbox section, um, and then the parents, they might be working with a parent that doesn't understand a specific diagnosis or a specific delay or what they're trying to work on with their child. So maybe they want to refer parents to these blog posts that are talking about those topics.
[00:08:55] Colleen: So there's blog posts that can meet all of these different audiences. Um, I speak in layman's terms in most cases, so that things are understood. Um, and there's just so many resources for supporting the parents with milestone checklists and activities they can do at home.
[00:09:14] Colleen: Um, and then the educator section is things that they'll see in the classroom and things that are impairing learning, um, and activities they're doing in the school setting, whether it's reading or organizing their backpack or their locker. It's just all of those different things and what's happening. Why is that situation or behavior happening and what can you help them with by targeting the underlying areas? So there's so many handouts, um, printables that are just explain things, just blog posts. So we try to cover all of those things, but the end goal is the child.
[00:09:52] Olivia: Yes. Yes! And I love it. Like something you just said really struck me as I was, as I've been navigating the different toolboxes, resource wise, you explain the why and getting to that underlying cause. And I think raising children it's not for the faint of heart. It's an amazing experience, but it's also, you know, it's daunting when something's going on and you don't have an answer. Um, and I adore, I appreciate the perspective that you offer for therapists on the ground to be able to explain to families and caregivers in a way that is, um, accessible. It's all about access and service of the child. And I appreciate that about you so much. What new interventions or newer interventions should we be on the lookout for when it comes to OT?
[00:10:46] Colleen: Um, well, I don't know if it's newer, but it's more aware, like there's more awareness now, which is self-regulation. That is huge, huge. And it's, it impacts like wellbeing and mental health, participating in daily activities, just being able to identify your emotions and your inner what's happening and identify that. And then like regulate it, basically like, find the tools that you need to function and complete daily activities.
[00:11:19] Colleen: And there's just so much more information out there now about this, where ten years ago, five years ago, it wasn't like, people weren't such so aware of it, and it's I love to see that and I love to see those blog posts that about self-regulation gain traction and the tools that we have the deep breathing exercises.
[00:11:40] Colleen: Those are being accessed by, um, mental health therapists, guidance counselors. Um, I'm getting emails from administrators that they're using these tools. And I love that because it's just reaching more needs and it's, it's so important. And that's how we function really is dealing with things. But how do you deal with them if you don't have, if you don't know how to do that? Emotions are a huge thing.
[00:12:08] Olivia: They are, you know, and right now I have a son that's a junior in high school and a son that is a sixth grader and something I have observed, especially since I would say COVID, if we can put it out there, but since, you know, families were all together, some doubled-up in households, I think we became much more aware of each other and space and regulation, um, when we really couldn't have that break.
[00:12:37] Olivia: Uh, and so I think something beautiful that has come out of it is, there's much of a, more of an awareness with children of having grace and patience for other children now back in the school setting. And I think that that's attributed to folks like you that are putting resources out there. I think it's attributed to grownups and how they model regulation for children. And also acceptance. You know, it's okay if a child needs to get up and move or be positioned in a way, so they're able to regulate their body because it makes learning better for everyone else in the community when we can all participate.
[00:13:20] Olivia: So, I agree, self-regulation is tremendous, um, and I am just, I'm grateful that the world is becoming more aware of it. Um, I have followed your blogs for a very long time, and you've really worked hard to nurture a team of writers. Um, you wouldn't sleep if you were doing this all by yourself, right? So what are some of the blog posts that you would say, like, this got lots of a beautiful response, um, and we should take a peek at them.
[00:13:55] Colleen: Um, the one that I love is it didn't; it got a lot of response because it's kind of like a hot topic, which is weighted blankets and weighted vests and compression garments.
[00:14:08] Colleen: Um, there's not a lot of research out there. So I actually had one writer who was a new grad really aware of the research and, um, you know, just got out of school and was used to researching things. She did a research review - well, there's not a lot out there. So she did her write-up based on that information.
[00:14:30] Colleen: But then I have another writer who was doing some editing work and formatting work and was fixing up the blog post to fix some things, just formatting and she's like this is not how it actually is as a clinical therapist who's had years and years, like twenty years of clinical experience. And she was like, I have some things to add to this blog post.
[00:14:53] Colleen: So she went in and I was like, go ahead, go put in what, you know, what you've seen is the clinical experience. That skilled knowledge is so important. So she went in and the blog post is kind of like a dual-information. It has the research part, and it has the clinical experience of what you've actually seen with weighted blankets and how they have impacted.
[00:15:17] Colleen: Now, it's not going to be appropriate for every single individual, which I try to make my blog posts and information - you can make it work for the individual because it's not going to work. It's not written for one person, right? So a weighted blanket may not work for one person, but with her clinical experience, she could detail some of the ways that it can be a support system. So I just love that one. And I love how it's two different perspectives. And you can get like, kind of if you're talking to a room full of therapists and you're like, what do you guys think? You know, it's really cool in that way.
[00:15:53] Olivia: It's neat because it's the blog almost having a conversation with itself and letting us in on their perspectives. That's so cool. So with that said, you know, your content is incredible. You are a creator. Uh, the definition of the term, where do you draw from to create the content? Are there research resources you can steer us towards?
[00:16:19] Colleen: Um, just having kids, seeing the things they're going through troubles, you know, struggles, those are, are sources for information. Social media is really a cool place because you can see: I'm having a problem with this - um, what do you, how do you help with this? And then I can come up with ideas to support them as a therapist using my therapy hat. I really draw a lot from the American OT Association. Their research that’s come out and just like, oh, this is neat. This is really cool. And I love learning. And then using that research to like, okay, that goes with an activity to support this, you know, so kind of those areas. Yeah.
[00:17:01] Olivia: It’s amazing. You know, I'm fascinated because The OT Toolbox has become almost a, it's, it's just this power engine. What does it - you're the creator; you're the drive behind it. What does a day look like for you? Like what time do you get up? I'm just fascinated to know because you're such an amazing creator.
[00:17:25] Colleen: Like I have time blocking. I have lists. I have alarms going off. I need to do this. And, you know kind of, um, working with my team and assignments and stuff like that. It's a, it's a system.
[00:17:38] Olivia: I'm sure it is. And is your team all located close to you or are they all over the world?
[00:17:44] Colleen: All over the world - oh, all over the country. All over the U.S. So I really love that I hire people that are either working with as parents or they want to have a couple extra hours of income on top of their salary they're making as an OT. I hire OTs, um, parents that are like in this place that I was when I was just coming home. I'd like needed something to do some money and I'm trying to serve them in that way, you know, as new parents.
[00:18:18] Olivia: Well, it's beautiful, and I think we need to lift each other up and support each other in this world of raising children and then as well as teachers and educators. I know time is so short. Um, and so again you offer countless resources and different memberships for people to get access and support to you and your team. It's wonderful. Um, so, you know, what would you say our call to action is to make sure that OTs are supported in the way that they need to be?
[00:18:51] Colleen: Well, um, as an OT, there's so much you can draw from your own personal, like, perspectives and your interests and that can guide the people, the clients that you're working with so much. You know, you could, if you're a parent, you know, that the parents of the children that you're working with, they're struggling too, and it's all part of a, like, the family unit and it all impacts how that child is functioning. So just really like drawing in from your personal, your personal motivators and your - what drives you is going to help to drive someone else.
[00:19:26] Olivia: If I am a caregiver, and I'm noticing that my child, um, needs support or help, who should I reach out to in the school system? What's that step-by-step process?
[00:19:40] Colleen: Yeah, so schools are a different category than outpatient. So if they're in the schools, they would start with going to administration or their teacher even and saying, I need to start this process and there would be testing, they would have to do an IEP or some other 504 Plan and just get things rolling in that way. So it would really be going asking for help at the next level up, which would be the teacher and then you can go to the administrator and then from there therapy comes in as a related support. But…yeah.
[00:20:14] Olivia: Would you recommend that the families or caregivers go to the school to start before they reach out to outpatient services? When does outpatient typically come into play?
[00:20:27] Colleen: Um, it's a different, like I said, it's a different umbrella. So in the schools, OT is working on supporting the education. So if the student needs supports to read, to cut, to organize their items, their things in their backpacks, um, it would be the therapist working on those things. Whereas an outpatient, you can work on things that are a little bit, you know, the outpatient, the home environment - sleep, um, picky eating, stuff like that. So it's more of the medical model as opposed to the educational model.
[00:21:02] Olivia: It’s beautiful. Um, Colleen, I can't thank you enough for being a guest and I am so excited. And, you know, I think most people around the world know about The OT toolbox. Um, and I just, I wanted to shine a light on the power of your work and, um, the site that you've crafted to be such an incredible resource. So thank you so much.
[00:21:27] Colleen: Thank you so much for having me. My pleasure.
[00:21:30] Olivia: Absolutely. Schoolutions is a podcast created, produced, and edited by me, Olivia Wahl. Special thanks to my guest, Colleen Beck. Also, a big thank you to my older son, Benjamin, who created the music that's playing in the background. I would love for you to share the podcast far and wide. Leave a review, subscribe on YouTube, and follow us on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, and Facebook @schoolutionspodcast. If you'd like to become a Schoolutions sponsor or share episode ideas, leave me a SpeakPipe voice memo at my website, www.oliviawahl.com/podcast, or connect via email at @schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com. Please keep listening. Let's continue finding inspiration together.