More games...

When I traveled to the US this past holiday, I did my usual shopping for toys and supplies for the OT department. I brought back some great finds that the kids really have enjoyed playing in therapy.

Since kids and parents often ask where I get these games, I thought I would start posting and highlighting the companies and the games that the kids enjoy.

Two of the companies, THINK FUN (www.thinkfun.com) and OUT OF THE BOX (http://www.otb-games.com/), have been gracious enough to donate some games for my OT workshop at the ADVANCE SOCIETY'S 8th Annual Educational Conference in March 2008.

Both companies are interested in developing programs for teachers to use games within the classroom setting to develop the children's skills (i.e. language, reasoning, problem solving, visual spatial and motor skills).

I posted some pictures of a few games from these companies on a previous entry about "Family Game Night":

http://otegypt.blogspot.com/2007/12/i-am-one-of-those-people-who-grew-up.html

FAT BRAIN TOYS

http://www.fatbraintoys.com/

FAT BRAIN TOYS is a retailer and developer of unique specialty toys, games, and gifts. They are a retailer of over 100 companies and have a great website. They have some great sales on THINK FUN games this month, too!

A great new game is DADO CUBES, which is a new twist on classic building blocks. Dado invites visual spatial development and problem solving through design-centered, attention-grabbing fun!

http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/fat_brain_toy_co/dado_cubes.cfm

GAMEWRIGHT

http://www.gamewright.com/

Gamewright is another company that offers excellent games.

Here are a few games that the kids have enjoyed over and over again in therapy!

GO BANANAS: a fast and fun card game

SLAMWICH: a fun sandwich making card game

Since shipping to Egypt has often proved to be difficult, many people are now using ARAMEX (http://www.aramex.com/) "Shop and Ship", which provides you with an address in the US or the UK to which the products get shipped to first and then sent on to you in Egypt.

ADVANCE's Garden Bazaar

OUR SPECIAL KIDS

INVITE YOU TO

THEIR SPECIAL DAY

ADVANCE's Garden Bazaar

Saturday 9th February

12-3 p.m.

Venue: ADVANCE SCHOOL

34 Al-Nady Al Gadid St.,

(Opposite New Maadi Central Telephones ' Office)

New Maadi, Cairo

Inquiries @ tel: 25193721 or 23

Come enjoy our event

Face Painting ~~ Handicrafts~~ Games~~ Snacks~~ Prizes

NY Times Newspaper Article About OT

When we read about OT's in the newspaper, we need to spread the word!

This is an article about an OT working with patients with brain injuries in a US rehabilitation hospital. It is a great article to explain what OT's do with patients during the rehabilitation process and it also shows the relationship between an OT and his/her patients.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/health/15tren.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=disabilities&oref=slogin

Occupational Therapy Continuing Education Links

The following is a list of OT continuing education resources that I have compiled. Quite a few of these resources are starting to provide online courses, which is a good opportunity for therapists in the region to take some continuing education courses otherwise not offered in the Middle East.

Many links also provide speech and physical therapy courses, too. All the links are US based, so if anyone has any more international links, please share them in the comment section or email me and I will post them.

• Education Resources

http://www.educationresourcesinc.com/

• TheraPeeds, Inc

http://www.therapeeds.com/

• EDLANTIS SEMINARS

(Offers OT Online Courses, such as Autism, Sensory Dysfunction, Kinesio-Taping and Torticollis: Eval/Treat)

http://www.edlantis.com/shop/customer/home.php

• OnlineCE.com

(Offers numerous Online courses for all rehabilitation specialist)

http://www.chirocredit.com/courses/index.php

• Myofascial Release

http://www.myofascialrelease.com/home.asp?

• Hand Therapy

(Online courses, DVD's, Patient Information)

http://www.handtherapy.com/

• Live Conferences

(Offers conferences online)

http://www.liveconferences.com/

• Stroke Help: Improving Life for Stroke Survivors

(workshops, products, patient education)

http://www.strokehelp.com/

• Cross Country Education

(Online, audio cassettes, self study)

https://www.crosscountryeducation.com/cce/landing_pages/LP_OT.jsp

• National Therapy Seminars

http://www.therapyseminars.com/home.htm

• Emerald Events

(Online training and conferencing)

http://www.emeraldevents.net/

• Vision Education Seminars

http://www.visionedseminars.com/

• Academy of Lymphatic Studies

http://www.acols.com/

• Therapeutic Resources

http://www.therapeuticresource.com/seminars/seminars.php

• Rehab Education

http://www.rehabed.com/

Follow up: Patient in need of OT

Thanks to the small network of OT's we have in Cairo...Summer's mom is now receiving OT services! Her daughter is building a good rehab team for her mom. So, good luck to her!

Occupational Therapist Job Wanted:

I have received CV's from international OT's who are interested in working in Egypt. Many of these OT's have a wide range of expertise with years of experience, but unfortunately I do not have enough positions to fill at the center. Some of them are finishing contracts with other facilities this year and are looking for future work abroad and others are available for sooner employment.

I will periodically post their contacts and if anyone is interested in hiring them from abroad, please contact them directly.


Name: Jitendra Singh
Nationality: Indian
Language Known: English, Hindi, and Arabic
Permanent address: New Delhi, India

Qualifications: Diploma in Occupational Therapy, 1985 from the Institute of Engineering and Rural Technology & Motilal Nehru Medical College, India.

Experience: Over 20 years experience working with children and adults in various settings in India and Kuwait.

E-mail: singhjiten@hotmail.com, singhjiten03@yahoo.com



Name: Mr. Leong Wai Ming
Nationality: Singaporean
Permanent address: Currently working in Cambodia.

Qualifications: Bachelor of Science, Occupational Therapy in 1999 from Curtin University of Technology, Australia. Bachelor of Arts (major in Psychology) in 1992 from the National University Singapore.

Experience: 8 years experience working with children in various settings in Singapore and Australia. Post-graduate training in NDT (pediatrics), SI, craniosacral therapy and Modulated Music (SAMONAS & Therapeutic Listening Programme). My main interest is to work with children with ASD, cerebral palsy and children with motor issues.

E-mail: waiming.leong@gmail.com

Patient in need of OT....

I have re-posted below a recent posting from the comment section of the OT blog. I wish it would have been easy for me to give her a name and address of a great inpatient rehabilitation unit with a good OT/PT clinic, but it wasn't.

This should not happen...

"Hi Laura, I came across your blog and I am in desperate need of help. I am an American-Egyptian physician. I arrived 2 weeks ago after hearing of my mother being involved in a traumatic accident and sustaing a severe fracture of her tibia, in the setting of an already deconditioned weak rheumatoid arthritis patient. I am shocked and disappointed at the information I have received regarding OT/PT...this is of utmost importance for my mother as she has already starting developing decubitus ulcers. The nursing care has been abhorrent, in private hospitals. I am looking for an inpatient rehab facility/qualified nursing staff/all the OT services I can get. Any information you can provide would help me tremendously and I am sincerely grateful. The best way to reach me would be mobile 012-277-4008 or 012-394-0130, as internet access is not daily. Thanks and look forward to speaking with you. Summer Abdel-Megeed, M.D."

She lives in Heliopolis. If anyone can further assist her, please contact Summer at sabdel.megeed@gmail.com.

Thanks,
Laura

"Occupational Therapy for Egypt" abstract to be presented by Christiane Mentrup at the next European Congress for OT.

The next European Congress for Occupational Therapy is being hosted by the German Association of Occupational Therapists - Deutscher Verband der Ergotherapeuten (DVE) in Hamburg May 22-25th, 2008.

Christiane Mentrup will be presenting an abstract:
Occupational therapy for Egypt/Ergotherapie für Ägypten

The presentation will be on May 22, 2008 from 1500-1520 hr.

The following abstract information was obtained from the COTEC website (http://www.cotec2008.dve.info/).

Absno: 498
Autoren: Mentrup C.1
Institute: 1Zürcher Hochschule der Angewandten Wissenschaften, Winterthur, Zürich, Switzerland
Thema: Occupational therapy training
Thema: Ergotherapieausbildung (9)
Occupational therapy for Egypt/Ergotherapie für Ägypten

A gerontologist in Cairo approached the World Federation of Occupational Therapists about the need to set up the profession in Egypt. During the Council Meeting in 2002 a WFOT project was established and a group of persons within and outside of Egypt started to work on achieving the goal of setting up OT practice and education in the country. Involved were representatives of consumer groups, health care professionals, educational experts and government officials. In the meantime two Cairo universities established an educational curriculum and several foreign colleagues have contributed to OT practice. This presentation will show the process and complexity of setting up the profession in a "new" country.

Ein Gerontologe aus Kairo wandte sich an den Weltverband der Ergotherapeuten mit dem Anliegen, den Beruf des Ergotherapeuten in Ägypten zu etablieren. Während der Konferenz 2002 wurde ein WFOT-Projekt gestartet und eine Gruppe von Menschen im In- und Ausland begann, Grundlagen für die ET-Praxis und Ausbildung in Ägypten zu schaffen. Dies geschah unter Einbeziehung von Vertretern von Nutzergruppen, Gesundheitsdienstleistern, Ausbildungsfachleuten und Regierungsvertretern. Zwischenzeitlich haben zwei Hochschulen in Kairo einen Ausbildungslehrplan geschaffen, während einige Kollegen aus dem Ausland einen Beitrag zur ET-Praxis leisteten. Dieser Beitrag zeigt den Prozess und die Komplexität der Schaffung eines Berufsstands in einem "neuen" Land.

Please visit the website http://www.cotec2008.dve.info/ for information regarding the program, abstract filing, registration and general information.

More Visits to Cairo and More Friendships Developed...

Since starting this blog, I have had the pleasure of corresponding with some wonderful students, therapists and educators. Dianne Koontz Lowman, Ed. D. is one of these educators that I met through this blog. We started corresponding after I emailed the blog to the OT department at James Madison University in the US.

In November, I had the pleasure of meeting Dianne as she was part of the People-to-People Special Needs Delegation visiting Cairo. Itinerary of the 2007 U.S.-Egypt Education Forum can be viewed at: http://www.ambassadorprograms.org/upcomingprograms/education/kelly-duncan.asp.

We had a lovely time meeting for lunch and talking about special needs, the growth of OT in Egypt and life in Egypt.

I asked Dianne to share some information about herself and her experience in Cairo:

Dianne Koontz Lowman, Ed.D., is the Early Coordinator of the Training and Technical Assistance Center at James Madison University and an Adjunct Instructor in the Occupational Therapy Program, where she teaches the research courses. Previously, she was an Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University. At VCU, she taught content related to child and adolescent development, evaluation and assessment, infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities, school based practice, and qualitative research. She is a 1994 graduate of the University of Virginia, with an Ed.D. in Special Education. Her research interests are in pediatrics, focusing on working with infants, toddlers, and young children with oral motor feeding difficulties, complex health care needs, and autism spectrum disorders. She is the co-author of The Educator’s Guide to Feeding Children with Disabilities. She is a member of the Ukraine Special Needs Orphanages Fund, Inc. group (USNOF) and travels to Ukraine to work with and on behalf of children with disabilities and their families (http://www.specialorphans.org/).

Some feedback from Dianne regarding her trip to Cairo:

"I recently had the opportunity to visit Cairo as part of the People-to-People Special Needs Delegation. I found the city to be exciting, overwhelming, noisy, fascinating, and a "must-see" destination. We toured a school and had the opportunity to see older students and young adults with disabilities working and making items (I bought a beautiful scarf and purse). In addition, we met wonderful administrators, teachers, and therapists. Maha Helali spoke to our delegation and did a wonderful job describing services in Egypt (especially OT). Laura and I went out to lunch, immediately connected and began talking to future collaborations (I know we will have more about those plans later). I am impressed by all the efforts being made to organize and develop occupational therapy in Egypt and hope to be part of those efforts. Thank you!"


Thanks Dianne and Happy New Year to you and your family!

Laura