Occupational Therapy Month at GiGi’s

Written by Anna Machuga, OTD Student

April is Occupational Therapy (OT) Month! As I finish up my time as the GiGi’s Playhouse Chicago OT Intern, I wanted to talk about the importance of occupational therapy, my role at the Playhouse, and explain how OT is integrated into the Playhouse in so many ways.

One of the many things I love about the field of occupational therapy is how diverse it is in terms of the populations we serve and the areas we can address with our clients. As OTs, we can work on anything including the steps in a morning routine, preparing a meal, money management, handwriting, work readiness, visual motor skills, feeding, and beyond. At the root of it all, occupational therapy is about increasing independence in the things we do each day, and that looks different for each person.

I am finishing up my doctorate in occupational therapy at Rush University, and had the amazing opportunity to complete my 14 week doctoral capstone experience at GiGi’s Playhouse Chicago. I was thrilled to be able to work here because I love working with the pediatric population and had only heard amazing things about the organization. I was able to take on a few different roles and assist with a variety of tasks during my time at the Playhouse. My main projects consisted of launching the internships for our young adults with Down syndrome and piloting a career development and exploration program as an extension of EPIC, our programming for ages 18 and up. I created visual task lists and made adjustments to the environment to enable success in their new worker role position. Some of the things the interns do include office work, cleaning the Playhouse, going to Trader Joe’s to get food for Cooking Club, organizing and sorting books for tutoring, and writing thank you notes. By working as an intern these individuals also gain the skills of following a structured routine, learning to ask for help, and understanding the responsibilities of having a job. All of these things will increase independence for the interns and help them get ready for a more formal paid employment position.

I learned so much from my interns, and they continued to impress me with their hardworking attitude and ability to remember things they learned from week to week. By creating a new 7-week career development program, I was able to use my OT knowledge to structure a program from scratch and make activities that were career focused but also fun for the participants. I also learned how the process of starting a program works and how to evaluate a program and make changes. I analyzed everything about the group, from physical set up to difficulty of tasks to socialization, and made adaptations each week.

Occupational therapy is also involved within all of the existing programs at GiGi’s Playhouse. Many of our programs are led by OT and pre-OT students from UIC, who take what they learn in the classroom and practice and refine their skills by planning and leading groups. For example, our Cooking Club is led by OT students and incorporates OT in so many ways. First of all, the act of cooking and meal preparation is part of the OT scope of practice, as this is an occupation that we all do every day. The teens that participate in this program learn how to cook meals with the idea that they will be able to do the same thing at home. Additionally, the program teaches the participants to sequence through steps, follow a recipe, search for all necessary ingredients and materials, and work as a team. However, at the same time it is also a super fun group where friends can get together, make some good food, and get to eat their creation! Not only is OT present within our programming, but our current Playhouse Board President, Jenny Popova, is an occupational therapist and recently got her PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences. Jenny has played an instrumental role in program implementation, mentorship to OT students, and managing things that take place behind the scenes to help keep the Playhouse up and running.

I have had the best experience completing my OT capstone at GiGi’s Playhouse Chicago and have loved getting to know all of our participants, families, volunteers, and staff. Thank you to everyone at the Chicago Playhouse, especially Jenny Popova – President, Grace Glenny – Site Coordinator, and Jennifer Puma – Program Coordinator, for helping me out whenever I needed it and supporting me throughout my time at GiGi’s. I will definitely be sticking around and staying involved, so I hope to see everyone back at the Playhouse soon!

Photo captions in order of appearance : Emily and Diego, Administrative Interns, and Anna, OT intern. Anna and Diego after a grocery run to Trader Joe’s. Anna and Luis at our 2020 Annual GiGi’s Playhouse Chicagoland Regional Gala.