M

eet Ahuva Arieh MS OTRL. That means Ahuva is a registered/licensed occupational therapist. We sat down for a chat about her advice for teens considering her line of work.

Q: What were some challenges you faced as a teen and how did you overcome them?

A: Growing up in Far Rockaway I attended a community school. My class was very diverse; my classmates didn’t necessarily have the same backgrounds and hashkafos that my family had. Many extracurricular activities chosen by my classmates weren’t the types of activities my parents encouraged.

To overcome this challenge I worked to find common ground with my classmates — such as working on school projects spending time on Shabbos with special-needs adults or having fun doing exercise videos.

I also got together with girls from other schools over the weekend. I learned how to befriend girls who weren’t exactly my type and my circle of friends wasn’t limited to my classmates.

Q: What were some of your outlets in high school?

A: I taught dance to elementary school children on the weekends. One of the community mothers decided the girls should have something to do on Sundays; she wanted to create clubs for the girls (in the days before this concept was popular). I loved running them! The girls walked in sulking thinking to themselves “I’m only here because my mother says I have to be here.” But we ended up having a lot of fun! We did a lot of creative dancing. The success of the program and the subsequent compliments I received did a lot to boost my confidence.

I also enjoyed swimming and giving swimming lessons to young children.

Q: Why did you go into occupational therapy (OT)?

A: Originally I wanted to be a physical therapist. I wanted to make people feel better and learn how to be more coordinated. While I was doing my undergrad work I taught fourth and sixth grades. I noticed that there were good smart kids who weren’t able sit and focus. These kids disturbed the class and jeopardized their own success in the classroom. Interestingly many of those children learned well in a one-on-one setting but fell apart in a classroom. I felt like I was missing something; there must be another piece to the picture. It wasn’t because they didn’t want to focus. These kids wanted to succeed!

As I did fieldwork requirements (spending time with experienced OTs) I learned that OT is a diverse field — it’s not just about teaching individuals how to hold a pencil cut paper do a puzzle or tie shoes. One has to look at the whole person how he learns best what environments are challenging how he moves about the classroom or playground and much more.

I decided I wanted to be a pediatric OT because if you help a kid at a young age his problems don’t have a chance to grow bigger and then he has fewer obstacles as he matures. Growing up is challenging for everyone and it’s that much harder if certain areas of function are not working at full capacity.