NDT - good or bad?

One of my favorite classes this semester has been neurorehabilitation. I've always been interested in working in rehab and many people needing intensive inpatient rehab have some type of injury to the central nervous system whether that be because of a stroke, a spinal cord injury or a traumatic brain injury. It is fascinating to me to learn more of how the brain and nerves work and what can be done to help people return to doing the things they need and want to do. Over the course of the semester different OTs have taught specific topics based on their area of practice and expertise. Last week the reading was on Neuro-Developmental Theory (NDT). Our textbook called it an outdated theory based on an outdated understanding of movement that has very little evidence to support it. Evidently we were studying this theory so we would have an understanding of what older therapists may be doing with their patients.

We got a completely different take on NDT during our class session which was led by Theresa, an OT that I got to know when I was volunteering at HCMC. (You can read about some of what I learned from her here and here.) She talked about how she had felt ineffective as a therapist until she took a three week course on NDT and learned how to help patients regain movement that had been lost. By the end of our three hours together, most of us were wanting to sign up for that three week course. And we all would love to have Theresa as our Level II fieldwork supervisor. The passion and stories told by one OT convinced us the only reason the evidence doesn't support the effectiveness of NDT is because of the difficulty of designing a study that shows that it is those techniques that make a difference.

I left class that day thankful for God bringing me across Theresa's path. I contacted HCMC about volunteering in their OT department because it was close to where I lived. Theresa took me under her wing and got me involved in patient care as much as possible during the 9 months I was there one morning a week. She communicated to me her passion for her job and her patients giving me as many tips as I could absorb. My essay for the application to the OT program was far better because of what I learned from her. I asked if she would be a reference for me on my application because she was the only OT who might know me well enough to have an opinion. Later on I found out she was connected with the program at the U. I really couldn't have asked for a better person for a reference. It's a small thing that worked out really well. And as I look forward to all the changes that are coming in the next year, it is comforting to know that God is in control of the people I will meet, the therapists I will work with and learn from, and wherever I end up finding a job.