Era Presentations

This past week, our class presented "Era Presentations" on different decades since the 1940s. My group had the 2000s and it was incredibly interesting learning about the impact that this decade made on present day technology, the work industry, play/leisure, and more. Listening to the other groups present their information allowed me to learn so much in this way as well. So many things stood out to me, but the first would definitely be the fact that as a result of World War II, two-week war emergency courses under direct supervision of an occupational therapist became very popular in 1943. I have been in occupational therapy school for almost five weeks now, and I cannot imagine learning everything in only two weeks.  Second, I learned that in the 1950s, there were 57,000 cases of polio, which resulted in more pediatric practice of occupational therapy. It was sad to me that polio was the reason that more therapists paid attention to children, but sometimes tragedy has to happen in order to shed light on what is happening in the shadows. Finally, I thought it was crazy that the first portable cell phone invented in 1989 cost $4,000 and weighed two pounds. I remember my dad telling me that almost no one even owned one when they first came out, and the 80s presentation reminded me why. I am so glad our class was able to participate in this project; I loved learning about all the major events as well as the minor details that have shaped our today. Occupational therapy has been shaped and changed in so many ways over the years and I am so excited to finally be apart of this profession.