...Blogs I've Commented On & Complete Reference List...

Please note this post is just a record of the blogs I've commented on and the full reference list, each reference will also be found at the end of each applicable blog. Enjoy reading the six previous blog posts covering the areas required in Part A of this assignment!
 
Blogs I've commented on:

Claire Fitzpatrick: Work and Labour

Lucy Kelly: Affordances-Physical

Godhelp Nyashanu: Ergonomics

Paula Hitchman: Semester 2 with a whole new focus on Participation in Occupation

References:

Ambience. (n.d.). Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved October 21, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ambience 
 

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

Caulton, R., & Dickson, R. (2007). What’s 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.

Christiansen, C.H. & Townsend, E.A. (2010). Introduction to occupation: The art and science of living (2^nd Ed.). USA: Pearson.

Crepeau, E. (2003). Analyzing occupation & activity: A way of thinking about occupational performance. In Crepeau, E., Cohn, E., & Schell, B. (Eds.), Willard & Spackman’s occupational therapy (10^th ed., pp. 189-198). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

Green, T.F. (1968). Work, leisure and the American schools. New York: Random House.

Law, M. (2002). Participation in the occupations of everyday life, 2002 Distinguished Scholar Lecture. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 56, 640-649.

Sadlo, G. (2004). Creativity and occupation. In M. Molineux (Ed.), Occupation for occupational therapists (pp. 90-102). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.  

...Ambience...

Ambience is defined as “the atmosphere of a place” (Ambience, n.d.). So how is it that this atmosphere is created? Sadlo (2004) suggests, “Careful attention is given to the seating arrangements and decoration of the room, to create the appropriate ambience, perhaps using background music and lighting effects” (p.94). When applying this to cards there are a number of influences that create the ambience, for example; lighting, noise, and positioning around a table or on the floor.

The following is an extract of the last time I played cards and illustrates the ambience I felt and the things that influenced this.

Sunday night was full of playing cards! We were also listening to music, singing, drinking copious amounts of juice and laughing. It was our last night to spend in Fiji with my family so we needed to make the most of it...It was a happy and sad time combined, I knew this would be the last time to play cards with everyone until the next time I visited but at the same time was enjoying the amount of fun we were having together.

I don’t think I won much as I remember my brother making a lot of snide comments throughout the night...When our night ended it was close to 2.30am and we had slowly started to pop off to sleep in different areas of the room or were idly shuffling the cards while talking about the fun times we’ve had and hope to have in the future.

The ambience of this night was determined by the other activities taking place in the room such as the music, the drinking of juice, and the conversations and eventually the change in people’s energy then making people less interactive and therefore changing the ambience again. The main effect the ambience had on me was that there were many new positive memories created from the night and that it was through engaging in playing cards that this was possible.

Original Story: (not for marking)

“Sunday night was full of playing cards! We were also listening to music, singing, drinking copious amounts of juice and laughing. It was my last night to spend in Fiji with my brothers, sisters and cousins so we needed to make the most of it. We played three different games over the night; Speed, 5-3-2, and Liverpool Rummy – well some of it.  It was a happy and sad time combined, I knew this would be the last time to play cards with everyone until the next time I visited but at the same time was enjoying the amount of fun we were having together.

I don’t think I won much as I remember my brother making a lot of snide comments throughout the night. I definitely learned a few more Fijian words to add to my repertoire! I don’t think I even minded not winning for a change as I knew this would be the last time my Fijian family would be playing cards like this and it was too much fun being the brunt of all my brothers’ warm-hearted jokes for the night.

When our night ended it was close to 2.30am and we had slowly started to pop off to sleep in different areas of the room or were idly shuffling the cards while talking about the fun times we’ve had and hope to have in the future.

When leaving to go to bed I packed the cards away where everyone would be able to use them if they wanted to once I had left.”

References:

Ambience. (n.d.). Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved October 21, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ambience 
 

Sadlo, G. (2004). Creativity and occupation. In M. Molineux (Ed.), Occupation for occupational therapists (pp. 90-102). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.  

...Practical Considerations...

Crepeau (2003) states, “identifying the multiple demands, skills, and potential meanings of the activity enables practitioners to have a deeper understanding of this activity in general” (p. 191). These are all the practical considerations that have to be made when looking at an occupation and as suggested these can be the demands of the occupation such as where it takes place or what equipment is needed to engage in the occupation, the skills required for the occupation such as cognition or fine motor skills, and underlying meanings of the activity such as if it always includes the same people when it is engaged in. 

If I apply this to playing cards there are multiple practical considerations that have to be made, these include:

-       Equipment: cards, table, chairs 

-       Location: weather dependent can be played indoors or outdoors

-       Time: each game varies depending on the length it takes to play

-       Skills: cognition to play the game to the rules, attention to get through a game, memory depending on the game being played, fine motor skills to manipulate the cards, language to understand the rules of the game and to communicate with other players as needed

-       Underlying meanings: playing certain games with certain people, having the same partner in pair games, always playing after dinner or at lunch time

Practical considerations I make when playing cards include:

-       Who will be playing?

-       Locating the cards and checking that they are all there

-       Being sure there is enough space e.g.: Table and chairs

-       Determining other distractions e.g.: wind, noise

-       Being sure the game is suited to the people playing

-       Choosing a game specific to who I am playing with based on the meaning it has

References:

Crepeau, E. (2003). Analyzing occupation & activity: A way of thinking about occupational performance. In Crepeau, E., Cohn, E., & Schell, B. (Eds.), Willard & Spackman’s occupational therapy (10^th ed., pp. 189-198). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.