Presented during Myotonic's Friday Afternoon Webinar Series.

Dr. Cynthia Gagnon & Samar Muslemani discuss ways to modify daily living activities to best benefit those living with DM. The webinar covers cover the purpose of occupational therapy (OT), what OT can do for you, alert signs and practical tips, including considerations for managing home quarantine during COVID-19. The two presenters review daily living challenges related to home confinement and physical distancing, practical solutions and recommendations.

About the presenters:

Dr. Cynthia Gagnon is a researcher and clinician at the Université de Sherbrooke in Canada. Professor Gagnon trained as an occupational therapist and obtained her PhD in Rehabilitation for Laval University (Canada). She is leading an interdisciplinary research program to document the natural history of the most prevalent neuromuscular disorders in Canada including myotonic dystrophy and recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay. She is developing and validating several outcome measures among these populations in preparation for clinical trials. Professor Gagnon is the leader of the OMMYD international initiative for the selection and validation of outcome measures in myotonic dystrophy.

Samar Muslemani is a student at the Université de Sherbrooke in Canada, working with Dr. Gagnon. She is an occupational therapist and is currently pursuing a masters degree in independent living and researching patients with childhood onset DM1. She just finished her data collection in both Québec and France. In her research projects, she aims to support the practice of health professionals in order to improve care of DM1 patients.