Steven Hadley  

Roy, Utah

Athletic Training

Leadership

 

Volunteering with Physical Therapy at South Pre School

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For my EDGE project I volunteered at a local preschool helping students with their rehabilitation programs. At first, I spent most of my time observing how Polly Jones, the physical therapy aid, and Tori Forsyth, the actual physical therapist who coordinates with the school district. I quickly gained more responsibility as I became more familiar with the rehabilitation programs and the different exercises that they often have the kids do. I was able to get a lot of hands on experience helping the kids through their therapy. I even had the opportunity to record notes on the students’ progress and fill out progress reports.

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During a normal day volunteering at the preschool I would work with around 6 students (over the entire course of my project I worked with over a dozen). Polly and I would go call the students out of class one by one and work with them in the rehab area of the school. Many of the students I worked with had medical conditions that resulted in them being behind in their development. I would help them practice performing simple tasks such as climbing stairs without using a rail for support, walking across a balance beam, riding a bike and playing catch. We also did lots of other core building and proprioceptive type exercises with the students. After taking the students back to class I would record their progress on their personal charts along with any other important notes.

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When I was preparing to do my EDGE project I was looking for something that would be helpful to me in preparing to apply for physical therapy school. I had already accumulated a good number of hours of experience in an outpatient physical therapy clinic. I also was getting a lot of experience working with athletes through my clinical rotations in the athletic training program. I needed a project that would still be related to my future career but that wouldn’t be redundant with my other experiences. That is when I heard about a friend of mine who was helping with physical therapy at the local preschool. I put myself in contact with Polly Jones, the physical therapy aid, at South Pre School and began helping with their students.

I quickly learned, as I began to work more closely with the preschool students, that it is very hard to keep the attention of a 4-year-old. The biggest challenge I encountered was figuring out what worked best with each individual student. Some were very compliant and seemed to enjoy their rehabilitation routines, others would throw tantrums on a regular basis. I learned that the most important thing to do was just to build a good relationship with the students so that they didn’t just associate my presence with having to do exercises they didn’t like. I also learned the importance of positive reinforcement and of making rehab a fun experience.

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My project was beneficial to Polly and the students. Polly was happy to have me around to help. Polly sees a large number of students every day and when I would show up she would get a little bit of a break, which, while working with preschool age kids, is necessary. I was also able to help the students I work with as they made progress in their strength, balance and coordination. It was cool to see the kids I worked become comfortable performing everyday tasks as well as gain confident in normal activities like playing catch or riding a bike.

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For me, I feel like this project was a good boost for my resume for physical therapy school. I was accepted into a Physical Therapy School recently and I feel like the experience of working with preschool students in a physical therapy capacity helped me significantly. Also, I was able to see a different side of physical therapy. All my previous experiences had involved athletes or older patients. This opened my eyes to opportunities that physical therapists have to work in coordination with school districts. Lastly, I learned good strategies for working with children. I learned how to make therapy exercises fun for students by incorporating games or toys to keep the attention of the students.

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“It was cool to see the kids I worked become comfortable performing everyday tasks as well as gain confident in normal activities like playing catch or riding a bike.”