[community] Your opinion on intro activity re: inclusion and design for OT students

[Foster, Julia]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for thoughts or ideas on the best activities to teach first year occupational therapy students about inclusion/accessibility and (digital) design (brief explanation of occupational therapy below my signature).

They do have a design course and a physical design project in second year. If successful, this would be in their very first term and focus more on digital accessibility/inclusion. In my mind, I was picturing that it would be cool to give them a taste of some digital accessibility features and principles that would 1) help them create more accessible resources (handouts for clients, presentations, etc.) and 2) give them tools in their own lives for their own learning preferences or needs ... which in turn would have a secondary impact of helping them understand of the value for others (e.g., headings have so many beneficial uses for many people). I know that just teaching them document accessibility in isolation might lose some of them (without the context or some design activities).

I know this community likely has a huge range of excellent experience and with this and so I'm curious about your thoughts. Realistically, they have a very full course load already, so it's not like fitting a whole course in is doable. This would likely be a one off (though other ideas are welcome).

Thanks so much,
Julia

Occupational therapists (my brief explanation): occupational therapists work to enable people to get back to (or learn to do for the first time) the meaningful activities and roles in their life (i.e., entering or returning to work, participating in play, independence at home, getting out into the community, connecting socially, etc.). In an ideal world, anyone consult an occupational therapist, but in most contexts, it's healthcare-based rehabilitation, and working with different populations with different conditions and injuries (e.g., stroke rehab, mental health, return to work post injury, etc.). The main unifying theme is on the occupation/activities that occupy our time.
Thanks and have a good day,
Julia
Julia Foster, MScOT, OT Reg. (Ont.)
Occupational Therapist
KHSC Vision Rehabilitation Clinic<http://ophthalmology.queensu.ca/faculty/physicians/lvr>, in support of the
South East Ontario Vision Rehabilitation Service (SOVRS)
Department of Ophthalmology
Kingston Health Sciences Centre-Hotel Dieu Site
166 Brock Street, Kingston, ON K7L 5G2
Telephone:  613-544-3400 ext. 2475
Fax: 613-887-2081
Email: Julia.foster at kingstonhsc.ca<mailto:Julia.foster at kingstonhsc.ca>
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