The Dynamic OT Role at the DAM: Building the Capacity of Volunteers
We have invited Raven Brooks, student Occupational Therapist at the University of Toronto, to share some reflections about the dynamic roles the Dance Ability Movement OTs have based on her experience during her 10-week placement with us. Since Raven’s impressions covered diverse topics, we’ve decided to publish them in a series of blog posts. In this week’s blog post, Raven will share with you how our OTs build the capacity of volunteers so they can help us create an inclusive and safe environment. If you haven’t read her previous blog posts, click on the links below: Supporting New Dancers through [...]
Congratulations Saba Malik on being the July Volunteer of the Month!
Saba began volunteering with us at our Mississauga location, June Lawrence School of Dance, in-person and has continued to be a part of the larger DAM team for our online classes! She brings a great understanding and appreciation of differences and uses her calm and patient nature to connect with each dance buddy, allowing them the time and space to be heard and feel that sense of connection, even over the screen! Further, Saba is able to build rapport with her dance friends and values the families' role in supporting dancers, especially in a virtual setting! She goes above and [...]
The Dynamic OT Role at the DAM: Supporting Classes using a Universal Design, and Targeted Team Approach
We have invited Raven Brooks, student Occupational Therapist at the University of Toronto, to share some reflections about the dynamic roles the Dance Ability Movement OTs have based on her experience during her 10-week placement with us. Since Raven’s impressions covered diverse topics, we’ve decided to publish them in a series of blog posts. In her first blog post, Raven explained how our OTs support new dancers through an individualized approach to help with their transition into the DAM community and encourage participation. This week, she will talk about the OT role in supporting classes using a Universal Design, and [...]
The Dynamic OT Role at the DAM: Supporting New Dancers through an individualized approach
We have invited Raven Brooks, student Occupational Therapist at the University of Toronto, to share some reflections about the dynamic roles the Dance Ability Movement OTs have based on her experience during her 10-week placement with us. Since Raven’s impressions covered diverse topics, we’ve decided to publish them in a series of blog posts throughout the next four weeks. We hope you enjoy! Before beginning my student occupational therapy placement at the Dance Ability Movement (DAM), I wasn’t exactly sure what my role would look like, especially in a virtual environment. Now, after 10 weeks, I can tell you that [...]
11 Years of the Dance Ability Movement, 11 Things We Learned on Placement
Dance parties, virtual backgrounds, endless laughs, “Hey Baby!”, die-hard Disney fans and an inflatable giraffe - just a few of the many things that defined our placement experience at the Dance Ability Movement (DAM). As two student Occupational Therapists (OTs) with a dance background, if you would’ve asked us 10 weeks ago what it meant to be a dancer, our definition would’ve been drastically different compared to what it is now. From defining dance as pointed toes, straight arms, perfect ballet buns and looking uniform on stage, we have broken down these barriers and have changed the way we see [...]
The Show Must Go On!
The year-end recitals are that magical moment dancers wait for all year long! Due to Covid restrictions, this year our dancers were not able to perform on stage again. However, we challenged ourselves to think outside-of-the-box to find a way to still celebrate together and recognize the hard work of our dancers, volunteers, teachers and OTs. The main focus of the team was to find creative ways to replicate that sense of magic and feeling of pride that dancers get after performing on stage. “We knew we had to be creative with how to achieve a sense of being together [...]