Guest Blog Post

Twitter, some people love it, and others hate it. But for me twitter has been a lifeline! 

Hi, I’m Alex an Msc (pre-reg) Student Occupational Therapist with lived experiences of Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Autism, chronic pain, FAI syndrome and mental health conditions. 

I started my journey to become an Occupational Therapy after completing my degree in anthropology in 2020. Realising that the difference I wanted to create in the world couldn’t be done using anthropology alone, and that I desired a career in which I could connect with, and work with individuals. 

Towards the end of my first degree, I had two hip surgeries and that’s when the idea of a career in healthcare started to really spark my interest. 

So, before I knew it, I was enrolled in an MSc course. I knew there would be challenges along the way due to being neurodivergent and disabled, but I felt reassured (at the time) by Royal College of Occupational Therapist’s career website which states:

‘As an occupational therapist, you can be any gender, race or sexual orientation, you can be disabled or experience your own physical or mental health problems’. (https://chooseot.co.uk/)

This quote reassured me that my conditions would not affect my career prospects, and that OT was a profession which would be both accommodating and accepting of my conditions. At this time I didn’t even consider that OT’s could be ableist, or that there may be barriers to working in the profession as a disabled person. In hindsight this was perhaps naive, as OT just as any other profession is not immune from ableism.

Fast forward a few months, and I was undertaking my very first clinical placement in an acute hospital setting. That’s when reality set in; and I began to question how I would work within a service that does not meet the diverse needs of people with disabilities within the profession. 

The lights were too bright, it was too noisy, and I struggled to give the eye contact expected of me. I pushed myself, and managed to complete the placement with a Pass +, and I was ecstatic; I thought to myself, ‘maybe everything will be ok, I just now know this isn’t my preferred setting and that’s ok!’. 

Little did I know it but my next placement was the real wake-up call as experienced ableism from those working in the setting .

I was in a mental health placement setting, which was mostly office based, very different from the busy hospital setting of my first placement and yet I was struggling more than ever. I can’t share in detail my experiences, but I wanted to give you an idea of how ableist attitudes of the Occupational therapist I met felt and impacted my experiences.  

I felt judged based on misconceptions about my disabilities, and that they believed that someone with the disabilities could not practice occupational therapy. I was at an all-time low. My mental health went to a dark place, and my burnout levels were unbelievable; fighting against ableism every single day was exhausting. I was suddenly terrified that I was going to experience this throughout my career. 

It was at this time when I truly started engaging in OT twitter. Prior to my horrible experience, I had created a professional Twitter account (@alexandratheOT), and I had followed lots of OT’s I found inspiring, as well as various hospital trusts, charities and OT groups. I enjoyed tweeting and reading other tweets from the community, but at this time I wasn’t getting much engagement on my tweets, and I wasn’t very invested in the groups. 

It was only when I had a bad experience on that placement that I realised the true value OT twitter has. I reached out to Able OT UK for support as I was desperate for advice and someone to understand what I was going through. 

I felt as though no one in my life understood, and my university was not taking the ableism seriously, and of course, I was terrified that I might fail my placement. Various members of Able OT took time out of their own busy lives to talk to me, comfort me, and share their own workplace challenges. 

I then joined one of their support sessions on zoom and found a lovely group of OT’s to vent to. Everyone was so empathetic and understanding, I finally felt like I wasn’t so alone,and that there was a future for me in OT! 

I then posted a series of tweets about my placement experiences, and they gained some traction; there was an outpouring of other OT’s and students who had experienced discrimination and ableism during their placements. 

I was shocked to learn it wasn’t just me! But I also found great comfort in knowing I wasn’t alone; other people did understand. They were frustrated by the treatment I was receiving and the lack of support for students experiencing ableism from the university and RCOT. But I also suddenly gained a community of people who were rooting for me to pass the placement. 

I pushed myself to the absolute maximum on placement, I got outside organisations involved and I compiled extensive evidence that I met the learning outcomes, as well as evidence of the ableism I had experienced. I prepared for the worst… but I managed to pass the placement with a ‘pass +’ proving to myself that i could be an OT. It felt like a mini victory against ableism.

Since then, I am still actively engaged in the OT twitter community, I have met OT’s online who have resonated with my placement experience, and we have collaborated on projects and chatted on zoom. I also have been able to support other students going through similar experiences, and I’ve created connections with disabled and LGBTQ+ OT’s around the globe. Although that placement was a very bad time in my life, I am so grateful that it gave me the opportunity to find these communities, and that it gave me even more passion to fight ableism within the profession from the inside. 

I use Twitter for CPD, and to keep up with the current issues and challenges in the NHS and profession. OT twitter allows me to do all of this and more, in the comfort of my own home, using minimal ‘spoons’!

The twitter community has been invaluable, and i’d advise any student OT or qualified OT to find their community online, whether it be AbleOT, LGBTQIA+OT or BAMEOT. As minorities, we need to utilise this platform we have, to support each other, lift each other up, promote change in our profession, and celebrate each other’s achievements. 

All of which can be done with the help of Twitter. 

USEFUL LINKS AND FACTS.

Links to helpful websites have been embed in the below text just click on it and it will take you to the websites.

Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior. At its heart, ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require ‘fixing’ and defines people by their disability. Like racism and sexism, ableism classifies entire groups of people as ‘less than,’ and includes harmful stereotypes, misconceptions, and generalisations of people with disabilities.

WHERE TO GET HELP AND SUPPORT

National Union of Students has long campaigned to remove the stigma from all disabilities, challenge perceptions, and encourage all members of our society to take a positive attitude towards understanding the nature of disability and overcoming prejudices.

However, NUS does not handle individual complaints against educational inductions and cannot represent individual students. If you need support or advocacy, but have some recommended steps and external organisations listed on their website that may be able to help.

Assess to work

If you are in employment and feel you need further help you can apply for an access to work assessment

Twitter and CPD

How to use twitter

@OTalk_

Weekly Twitter chat, designed to enable discussion about occupational therapy. The #OTalk twitter chats take place on Tuesday evenings between 8pm-9pm (UK time) and are suggested and facilitated by members of the #OTalk community. Each host produces a blog post to introduce their topic and then leads the chat by using a number of questions on the night to start the discussion. To follow and engage in the discussion, use the hashtag #OTalk on Twitter. 

OTalk website

Get support from AbleOTUK

We are a group of OT’s with lived experiences of Disabilities and or long term health conditions, find support and information on our web page and sign up to join our monthly support sessions.

Other supportive networks on twitter

LGBTQIA+OT

Inspired by BAMEOTUK, They launched a network in 2021. They are here for anyone in the occupational therapy community who wants to connect, share, learn about and celebrate all things LGBTQIA+.

@BAMEOTUK

Black, Asian & Minoritised Heritages Occupational Therapy, Students, Staff & Educators Network. Allies please join us here too. RT does not equal endorsement

@DisruptOT

Challenging the status quo. Disrupting oppressive systems. Building community. Free monthly educational events. All welcome.