Addison Littleton - Student Blog 4/13/26

Hey everyone,

The Spring 2026 cohort, Teal Team 12, has been busy building on everything we started earlier this semester, and it’s been exciting to see how things are starting to come together. After laying our foundation in anatomy, physiology, pathology, and neuroanatomy, we’ve now transitioned into more hands-on learning with our Introduction to Lab Skills course.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve worked through our laboratory manuals and completed ten different projects designed to help us develop essential fabrication skills used in the orthotics and prosthetics lab. Some of these projects included fabricating an AFO strap, creating a rivet head rounding tool, building inside and outside calipers, and practicing skiving on a variety of materials. These experiences have really helped us start connecting classroom knowledge to practical application, which has been both challenging and rewarding.

Outside of class, some of our cohort had the opportunity to volunteer at the Special Olympics, where we were able to apply skills like range of motion assessments and manual muscle testing in a real-world setting. It was a great experience that reminded us why we chose this field and the impact we hope to make as future clinicians.

We’re wrapping up this semester by beginning our Clinical Gait Analysis course. This class will introduce us to the mechanical and biomechanical principles of human movement, combining what we’ve learned in anatomy and neuromuscular systems to better understand both static and dynamic gait.

Overall, it’s been exciting to start getting more hands-on experience and continue growing our skills in the O&P field. We’re looking forward to everything that’s ahead as we keep building toward becoming clinicians!

— Spring 2026 Cohort