Occupational Therapy (OT)

Occupational therapy is provided to students from birth through the age of 22 years old as a direct or consultative service based on the student’s Individualized Education Plan (I.E.P.). Occupational therapy is a related service in which the therapist functions as a member of an interdisciplinary team whose purpose is to provide an appropriate educational program for students with disabilities. School-based occupational therapy practitioners are occupational therapists (OTs) and certified occupational therapy assistants (COTAs) who use meaningful activities to help students participate in what they need and/or want to do in order to promote physical and mental health and well-being. For students in schools, occupational therapy works to ensure that a student can participate in the full breadth of school activities—from paying attention in class; concentrating on the task at hand; holding a pencil, musical instrument, or book in the easiest way; or just behaving appropriately in class. The whole purpose of school-based occupational therapy is to help enhance the students’ potential for learning.