‘In my personal statement, I spoke about my personal experiences of occupational therapy and how my disability is my tool, and now I’ve kind of made a career based on that fact!’
When I saw this next quote on my list, I was very tempted to skip it, as, let’s be honest, I’m pushing it with how much I waffled on about my lived experience in practice. But actually, it’s quite fitting, as when you’re reading this, I’ll be just under a week away from attending my first World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT) Congress in Bangkok!
When I attended my first in-person conference at the end of 2021 I got the feel for attending conferences and being in a room with so many like-minded professionals gave me such a buzz! I knew then that I’d love to attend at least one international conference in my career little did I think it would be as soon as just over 4 years later. When the congress got announced at the end of 2024 I knew it was something I wanted to aim for and as I wrote about previously going now felt a little more possible due to having a partner. I remember as soon as I saw the post shooting my colleague a text asking if we were going and of course she was in so it was time to get some abstracts put together.
I felt a bit of a fraud putting my abstracts in, as although they were joint pieces with my esteemed colleagues I took a lead on them all as they were all linked to ableism. Yes, I know a thing or two about ableism in healthcare but I’ve haven’t really done any academic research on it and this was an international congress so truth be told there was always going to be someone out there who knows more than me. However, I was determined to make this happen and put in 3 abstracts. One with my colleague Benita on ableism in standardised assessments and two with my colleague Samantha on enabling positive disclosure for learners on placement and using lived experience in teaching. Last summer, to my surprise, 2 out of 3 posters got accepted and my dream was feeling more and more real.
The posters I am presenting at WFOT are:
Comparing two tales, assessment with children: looking for solutions or part of the problem?
What is positive disclosure and how do we promote it to enhance student practice-based learning experiences?
I am beyond excited and honoured to take these posters to an international stage and let’s break down why.
The first poster ‘Comparing two tales, […]’ I have said multiple times on my blog that chapter 2 in my book means the most to be as for me writing that chapter about my experiences of ableist occupational therapy practices as a child just cemented that I was on the right path. This chapter is the longest chapter in the book (I think) with multiple interviews one with Dr Benita Powrie where both Benita question the overused of standardised assessments and bottom-up component based approaches used in practice. This interview was special to both Benita and me because we both has these questions at a very similar time and truth be told this kind of formed out friendship as we had this shared passion. So, to take this reflection to an international stage with Benita, who by the way gave me my first job and believed in me when no one did is really special.
Poster number 2 is my PhD topic, which wasn’t going to be a PhD topic when I submitted the poster so again this is really fitting. I don’t need to tell you about this one as I’ve talked about disclosure a lot recently but it’s something that both Samantha and I are really passionate about to enhance learners’ experiences. Yet again, it’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time and has been a catalyst for a lot of the work we’ve done together.
Looking back to this time last year when I was thinking about my abstracts for WFOT I had so many ideas based on different chapters of the book all sorts were going through my mind. There was a 2-poster limit on how many got accepted so to have these 2 based on my now PhD and my favourite chapter in my book is just more perfect than I could imagine.
I say I am excited and I am but truth be told despite the fact I’ve known this might be a possibility for a year I am still in disbelief this is happening! I cannot wait to attend other engaging talks and network with occupational therapists from across the globe. I am about to embark on a career highlight and a super special journey that I will always be grateful for.
So, if you’ve been here 7 years or 7 weeks thank you for being here and helping me achieve a lifetime goal so early on in my career I will never forget where I started. I sign this off still blogging in my bedroom knowing that when I wrote I “just might” have an amazing career that I do!
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Georgia x
