Labour and Work: 4/6

This post is around Labour and Work and how different they are, what they mean to me and how my activity relates to them.
Labour is the activity which corresponds to the biological process of the human body (Arendt, 1958).
My understanding of Labour is an activity that is essential to human survival.
Work is the activity which corresponds to the unnaturalness of human existence (Arendt, 1958).
My understanding of work is an activity that is chosen by the individual and not essential to survive.

Labour comes under Maslow's Biological and Physiological needs as displayed below:



Image retrieved 29/09/11 from: http://sockbook.referata.com/w/images/MaslowsHierarchy.jpg

Monopoly deal comes under the category of work. It is a game that is not essential for me to survive and is something that I choose to do.
I could look at it from the perspective of I play monopoly deal at work to teach my client new skills and at work I earn money and without money I wouldn't be able to afford specific things I need to survive e.g food and rent for shelter. I choose to that certain activity when I work to teach therefore monopoly deal comes under the category of work not labour.

In the tutorial Hilary asked us to think about what would happen if our kind of work or labour was taken away from us:
In terms of affordances I would lose:
Communication: Social interaction between both my client I work with and also those of friends and family members I play with.
Connection: I use monopoly deal to connect with Sammi* and to teach her her skills. I connect with both family and friends by bringing us together after a long day to play.
Memories: The opportunity to create new memories and I may also forget how to play over time.



References:


Arendt, H. (1958). The human condition. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Ergonomics: 3/6

Ergonomics can be described by the "ability to constantly make slight invisible adjustments to an activity to adapt to the needs of those taking part and ensure that it continues to work for its purpose" (Caulton and Dickson, 2007).

Hagedorn (2000) states that the principles of ergonomics are based on the concept of 'fitting the task to the man'. 

I understand ergonomics to be the changing of a task to ensure the person is able to perform what is required in the task to their full potential.

In relation the ergonomics and my experience of playing monopoly deal I have had to make various ergonomic changes to the games to suit each different person that I play with.

We were sitting in the lounge playing monopoly deal but a few members of my family were around, this made Sammi* feel uncomfortable and was making it hard for us to concentrate on the game. I decided to change the environment for Sammi* to make the game easier by taking her to a quieter part of the house where she was able to concentrate and allow us to interact without distraction. Instead of telling Sammi* to concentrate with the noise around her I adapted the environment, allowing her perform the game to her full potential. The new room bright as the sun was pouring in, making it hard to see the cards we were playing with, I got up and pulled the curtain to block out most of the sun, I sat back down to play now able to see our cards easily. 

Another ergonomic factor that I take into account when playing monopoly is that everyone learns at different paces. Each time I teach someone how to play I need consider the skill level of the person so I adapt to how I teach everyone in a different way. When teaching  people I work with intellectual disabilities I adapt the way I teach them compared to how I would teach one of my family members that understand without difficulty.  

References:


Caulton, R & Dickson, R. (2007). Whats going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.), Contemporary issues in occupational therapy (pp. 87-114). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.


Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools of practice in occupational therapy. A structured approach to core skills and processes. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.

Affordances in Monopoly deal: 2/6

Affordance:

Hagedorn (2000, p.51) describes affordance to be "anything which the environment can offer the individual which is pertinent to the role challenge and can facilitate role competence".  

According to Christiansen & Townsend (2004, p. 22) "affordances are environmental properties that both induce and supported goal-directed behaviour". "Affords do not have to be visible, known or even desirable to affect behaviour".

Communication/Connect:

Whilst playing a game of monoploy deal with Sammi* I care about her as I want her to be able to successfully attend to her money and know how much she has a needs to be giving me. I am very responsive to Sammi* and her needs during the game, I am always thinking of how I will play my cards to her advantage but still wanting to challenge her at the same time. I show complete respect towards Sammi* during the game as I know she has difficulty when it comes the adding up money, I will never push her and respect her when she asks for help to add money. The primary relationship is I am the teacher and she is the student. But if she has any tips for me I am always willing to listen. There is no limitation to the capacity of expression of individuality. For my well-being it is important to me as games are a way for me to relax and have fun.

I have already sacrificed my time and spending time with others to play this game with Sammi* and teach her new skills whilst playing. Continuing this activity will be sacrificing more of my time. I will often let Sammi* win to let her have a feeling of accomplishment. There are both verbal and nonverbal communications occurring during the game, also body language is displayed e.g. a smile for a good card. Monopoly deal is always played with someone else or in a group it is not an individual game which is something I like as I enjoy interacting with others.

 

References:

Christiansen, C. H. & Townsend E. A. (2004). An introduction to occupation: The art and science of  living. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools for practice in occupational therapy. A structured approach to core skills and processes. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.

Monopoly Deal

This is a good clip that explain what monopoly deal is all about

I use monopoly deal with a girl we will call her Sammi* I work with who has autism. She would like to learn general life skills and one that she is struggling with is money and socialising. I have used monopoly deal with her to teach her different skills around money and at the same time socialise with her. I will expanding more on this throughout my other blogs :).

Semester 2 of Participation in Occupation 2: 1/6

Semester 2 has just started and a new paper Participation in Occupation 2 is now the new focus of this blog.

Over the next 2 months I will be posting about my personal experience of doing an activity. 

The activity I am focusing on is monopoly deal which comes under the category of games (play):

There are three classes of games:

Skill

Strategy

Chance

Monopoly deal is a combination of all of these.

Games are an important aspect of my life; it’s a great way for social interaction and bonding. 

I have recently started a new job working with 2 young girls who have intellectual disabilities.

I have used games as a way of bonding and teaching them new skills such as money strategies using monopoly. They have also taught me games in return which helps them feel needed within the game process.

I also play games with family and friends it can be a good way to interact and socialize with one another.

In the past games have been used in my life to teach me new skills, meet new people, interact and most importantly have fun!

Key words to describe what games mean to me personally:

Interactive

Fun

Relaxing

Challenging

Productive

What games mean to me as an OT student:

Each time I learn a new skill from playing games I’m able to pass them on to clients. Every game has a purpose to it and can also be adapted to be used as interventions with clients.

As a student all the study and work can get a bit too much sometimes and games are a way of relaxing and refocusing. 

Remembering a certain piece of information could be made into a game to help remember.

Practical Considerations:

·         Cards

·         Will need someone else to play with

·         Will I have enough time to play with all the study