Feature -- by Mark Sproxton

Struggling to cut a circle out of construction paper with a pair of scissors, the five-year-old student becomes frustrated and throws the objects to the ground. The teacher comes over to try and help but realizes the child needs more than encouraging words. After school the teacher calls an occupational therapist to try to aid in solving the problem.

"I work with kindergarten-aged children who have special needs, not necessarily a physical disability, but for one reason or another are not meeting developmental milestones," says Brigitte Nilsson, an occupational therapist who works in Calgary public schools through the Alberta Childrens' Hospital. "As an occupational therapist, no matter which area you specialize in, whether pediatrics or geriatrics, we have a (way) of looking at people in their environment."

And the range of the those environments is huge, varying from kindergarten kids who haven't learned to play well with others, to working with those with mental health issues, to working with those suffering from the painful and limiting effects of arthritis. Regardless, the occupational therapist tries to work with the person to help them achieve greater independence and functioning in their day-to-day lives.

That diversity is one of the benefits of the profession, Nilsson said, along with the opportunities for personal change and growth. But it's a career she could have missed without a bit of good luck. "I happened to stumble across it in a university calendar," she said of first hearing about occupational therapists. "I had just finished my bachelor of arts in psychology and realized my job prospects at the time were limited. I wanted to pick a career with a specific set of job skills. When I read through the calendar, it fit with who I am and my values."

She completed her occupational therapy degree at the University of Toronto and now applies the holistic approach learned in her schooling, looking at each individual from many different perspectives, mostly in local schools. Approximately four-and-a-half days out of five she works with developmentally delayed kindergarten kids. The other time she works with kids with severe physical disabilities, and also uses her office in the hospital to write reports and attend staff meetings. Unlike some other health care providers, she doesn't work shifts and works no weekends.

While in the schools, Nilsson will first question teachers about the needs of their developmentally delayed students. From there she will either meet with each student individually or watch them informally before determining a plan of action to help the students overcome their difficulties. "I will write a recommendation for the staff and sometimes I will work some of the treatment myself," she said. "Most often it's for staff to help them work with that child." Often, she's working hand-in-hand with other health care providers, such as speech language pathologists or physiotherapists.

"It's a very rewarding area of practice. It's challenging and also very intrinsically satisfying to help people in their lives. There will always be a need for occupational therapists. As people age, it will be important to have occupational therapists work with them to keep them as independent as possible. There's a big role for us there. I would recommend this position to everyone."