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WHAT IS OT IN THE SCHOOL SETTING?

Occupational Therapy (OT) is a Special Education related service and supports a student's access to his or her education.  OT services are provided within the school system to students who have been determined eligible for Special Education Services as defined by IDEA.  OT services are provided only when a student is unable to benefit from special education and/or to access the general education curriculum without these services.  The student must be identified to have delays or difficulties with the acquisition of skills necessary for the student to access or benefit from his or her education curriculum.  The student's school-based therapy needs should directly relate to and support his or her educational program.  

OT services include improving, developing, or restoring functions impaired through illness, injury, delayed development, or deprivation. OTs work to improve the student's ability to perform tasks independently through the use of specialized activities, adaptations to the environment, or modifications of the task.  Students who receive OT services have received an evaluation by a licensed Occupational Therapist. 

The Occupational Therapy evaluation may include assessment of fine motor skills, visual motor skills, visual perceptual skills, sensory processing, and or self care skills. 

If found eligible and the IEP team determines appropriate and necessary; therapy services are then provided through an Individualized Education Plan which outlines the student's goals and objectives.  Services are provided through direct treatment either individually or in a group setting; through monitoring of programs and suggestions for the classroom setting; and/or through consultation to the teacher and the school. 

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE OT IN THE SCHOOL SETTING?

The role of the OT

  1. Identification, Referral, and Request for Assessment: May participate in the initial screening, special education referral process or facilitate the assessment request process for OT services.
  2. Assessment: Completes the educationally related OT assessment, which includes student observation, record review, interview, standardized/non-standardized testing procedures in areas of suspected disability according to specified timeliness.  Write the assessment report and reassesses the student through clinical observation and data collection annually and formally as requested by IEP team.
  3. Student Program Planning:  Reviews the OT assessment findings and identifies student abilities and educational, developmental, or functional needs of the student with the IEP team.  Develops goals and objectives for the IEP and coordinates the implementation of those goals/outcomes with the team to provide integrated services.
  4. Intervention Planning and Implementation: Develops and implements therapy intervention plan that supports IEP goals and objectives which may include the adaptation or modification of the student's learning environment, materials, and curriculum if appropriate and classroom or home intervention strategies.  Provides for pullout services when more inclusive strategies are insufficient to meet the student's needs.
  5. Documentation:  Documents findings, actions taken, and/or recommendations regarding involvement in the special education process as specified by regulations, procedures and professional standards.
  6. Liaison: Communicates with all involved staff, faculty, administration, students, and parents to ensure timely and efficient service delivery as designated by the IEP.  Complies with established confidentiality procedures regarding the release of information process.
  7. Staff Development:  Develops and implements training opportunities and services for IEP team members and NKCPS faculty and administration.  Attends and shares continuing education information with NKCPS faculty and administration.
  8. Supervision: Supervise the clinical therapy services provided by Certified OT Assistant and OT students.
 

WHEN IS OT RECOMMENDED?

OT may be recommended when...

  1. Difficulty in learning new motor tasks
  2. Poor organization and sequencing of tasks
  3. Poor hand use (including writing and tool use)
  4. Difficulty in accomplishing tasks without the use of adaptive equipment, environmental modifications, or assistive technology
  5. Unusual or limited play patterns
  6. Deficits in adaptive self-help or feeding skills in the educational setting
  7. Poor attention to task due to sensory processing
  8. Notable overreaction to textures, touch, movement, sounds, sights, and/smells

Considerations for OT services

To receive OT as a designated instruction and service, the student must have an educationally disabling condition under IDEA. The following are carefully and routinely considered when determining OT services:

  1. The prime age for effectiveness of therapy intervention.  Therapy is more effective for children from birth to 8 to 10 years.
  2. Acute Trauma: Therapy may be advisable for older children following an acute trauma which leads to a long term disability.
  3. Previous Interventions: Alternative programs should be considered for children who have received previous therapy.  Therapy interventions are designed for specific results and while they often work for most individuals do not always work for all.  If previous intervention has not elicited successful results OT services may no longer be of benefit.
  4. Priorities:  Education is the primary reason of school.  Students should have their support services (OT) carefully prioritized for the maximum utilization of time spent in school.  This is considered when determining frequency of services as well as direct, versus consult, versus a program to be monitored.

Direct Therapy:  Employs specific therapeutic techniques to remediate or prevent problems that are identified through the assessment process, adversely affect educational performance, and are based on program objectives developed by the IEP team.  OT personnel have frequent and consistent contact weekly to monthly; are responsible for planning, implementing and revising the OT program; and share responsibility for the IEP with other team members.  Students can receive direct therapy individually or in small groups.

Monitoring: Employs collaborative teaming to teach and directly supervise other professionals or paraprofessionals who are involved with the implementation of intervention procedures.  The OT completes an evaluation and develops and Intervention program to enhance the achievement of the IEP goals, but teaches someone else in the immediate environment to carry out the procedures with the student.  The OT does not supervise all activities of these persons, but provides information and quality control in OT areas of expertise.  The OT would continue to have contact on a regular basis, once a month to at least once a grading period, to determine whether adjustments in the intervention program are necessary.  Contact may be on site or other means of communication.

Consultation:  Is a service in which the OT's expertise is used to help the education system achieve its goals and objectives.  Case consultation focuses on the development of the most effective educational environment for the students with special needs.  Colleague consultation addresses the needs of other professionals in the education environment system to improve the overall effectiveness of a classroom, school, or the whole system.


Program Completion

The IEP team may consider the following conditions when determining that the student no longer needs OT to benefit from their educational program.

  1. The student is functional within the educational environment, and therapy services are no longer indicated.
  2. Other educational personnel are able to assist the student in areas of concern previously addressed by OT.
  3. Student performance remains unchanged despite multiple efforts by the therapist to remediate the concerns or to assist the student in compensating.
  4. The student continues to make progress in the areas being addressed by OT consistent with developmental progress in other education areas despite a decrease in OT services.
  5. Therapy is contraindicated because of the change in medical or physical status.