Occupational Therapist

Licensed Occupational Therapist

Reports to: Program Coordinator

Minimum Qualifications: Graduate of an AOTA accredited Occupational Therapy Program. Current and holds a valid license issued through the Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulations, as a Registered Occupational Therapist with experience in pediatric or school-based therapy preferred.

Service Description: OCEC provides itinerant services to students in OCEC programs and students with special needs in district programs. These services are delivered by personnel who are assigned to a number of different schools and program locations. Services may be delivered as direct minutes with the student or consultation minutes with staff/teams or a combination of both, based on students' needs as determined by the IEP team.

Occupational Therapists work with students who are ages 3-22 and have visual motor, fine motor and sensory processing deficits. School-based occupational therapy is designed to enhance the students' ability to fully access and be successful in the learning environment.

Performance Expectations: Duties may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Collects and interprets information from professionals to determine the need for pre-referral interventions, initial evaluations, reevaluations and/or potential services.
• Conducts assessment/evaluation of student abilities and needs.
• Collaborates in the development and updating of educationally relevant IEP goals/objectives and assists in identifying needs for other related services.
• Measures student outcomes and uses data to review progress with the IEP team.
• Prepares and submits reports in a timely manner.
• As a member of the IEP, completes all necessary paperwork in advance of the meeting, completes filing requirements, monitors implementation, and collaborates with the team.
• Using evidence based practice models, conducts assessments in the areas of:
• performance skills (gross motor, mobility, balance/equilibrium and interaction skills);
• performance patterns (habits, routines, and roles);
• context (physical and social environment);
• activity demands (required actions and body functions); and
• client factors (the mental, neuromuscular, sensory and various systems that impact performance at school).

Service Delivery:

• Establishes and maintains a positive and safe therapeutic or educational environment for students.
• Develops, adapts/modifies, sequences and implements a variety of activities to meet the students' individual goals/objectives.
• Provides therapy to students based on district or OCEC curriculum, ISBE learning standard, and/or individual student IEP goals and objectives within the classroom or outside of the classroom environment.
• Employs appropriate technology to engage students.
• Creates and follows a weekly work schedule and provides a monthly copy to the program coordinator.
• Monitors and charts behavioral, academic, and/or functional progress of students.

Interpersonal Relations/Communication:

• Maintains cooperative, positive working relationships with parents, OCEC staff, school district personnel, and community service agencies.
• Maintains ongoing appropriate and timely written and oral communication with parents, OCEC staff, school district personnel, and community service agencies.
• Attends various school and program related team meetings and staffings.
• Maintains appropriate expectations and communications with paraprofessional staff assigned to the classroom.
• Develops knowledge of local and community resources as they relate to caseloads.

Training/Consultation:

• Consults with school personnel to modify classroom environments, tools and curriculum to facilitate student performance and participation in school-related activities.
• Provides information and/or consultation to staff, school district personnel, volunteers, and agency personnel.
• Works with general education staff to foster integration of special education students.
• Demonstrates a commitment to professional growth to understand the educational model/terms for the educational setting and to keep current with best practice models of physical therapy.
• Trains and/or supervises paraprofessionals to assist with selected exercises or programs as allowed by state licensure.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Demonstrates knowledge of relevant evidence-based pediatric assessments, tools, and treatment methods.
• Demonstrates skills and abilities to assist students in developing relevant motor skills.
• Demonstrates ability to develop and implement treatment sessions.
• Demonstrates knowledge of assessment methods, techniques and tools for students eligible for physical therapy services.
• Demonstrates the ability to effectively communicate medical information, test results, diagnoses, and/or proposed treatment in a manner easily understood by parents, educational staff and administrators.
• Demonstrates knowledge of materials and strategies appropriate to students with physical needs.
• Demonstrates ability to manage time, work independently and be self-motivated.
• Demonstrates a genuine interest in the student population of the cooperative and member districts.

Other Professional Responsibilities:

• Ensures that physician's orders, parent releases, school records and other therapy related paperwork is on record and reviewed annually.
• Maintains an attendance record of all therapy services provided for each student and maintains Medicaid reports on a monthly basis.
• Participates in committees when appropriate.
• Demonstrates leadership in department, classroom, and school communities.
• Demonstrates knowledge of personal technology use (Word, email) and assistive technology when necessary.
• Demonstrates problem-solving skills, flexibility, organizational skills, patience, and receptivity to change.
• Demonstrates ability to maintain favorable public relations.
• Responds as soon as possible, to parent, student, teacher and administrative inquiries via phone or email during regular work week.
• Demonstrates the ability to function as a member of an educational team.
• Maintains a high level of ethical behavior, confidentiality and student-focus.
• Supervises a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant according to State Licensure Act, when appropriate.
• Serves as a positive role model and works to ensure a safe building environment.
• Maintains a positive working relationship with program administrator and communicates essential information in a timely manner.
• Demonstrates ethnic and cultural sensitivity and competence.
• Meets and maintains state requirements for certification or licensure.
• Performs related duties, as assigned.

Physical Work Requirements:

With appropriate accommodations and/or modifications, employees in this position must have the ability to:

• Provide service indoors in schools 75% to 95% of the time, varying mainly according to travel demand. Therapists infrequently provide off-site community-based services; homes based services/visits and sometimes provide services outdoors at schools.
• Use personal transportation to and from sites. Travel can account for 5% to 25% of work time.
• Enter data into a computer; operate standard office equipment, telephone, student technology.
• See and hear a computer screen and printed matter with or without visual aids.
• Hear and understand speech at normal levels and on the telephone.
• Speak so that others may understand at normal levels and on the telephone.
• Stand, walk, bend over, reach overhead, grasp, push, pull and move, lift and/or carry up to 25-50 pounds waist height.
• Lift or control student bodies of up to 50 pounds and participate in occasional lifts of 50 pounds, from floor to waist level frequently without the assistance of a mechanical lift.
• Work in both indoor and outdoor environments, some of which may have air-conditioning.
• Work in environments where privacy is limited and noise levels vary. Occasionally, services may be performed in hallways or areas where dust or debris may be present.
• Walk, stand, bend, reach, push, pull, crawl, or stoop to access and treat students. Up to 75% of work time is spent intermittently in these types of activities. The remainder of the time can be spent sitting to accommodate student treatment, driving and paperwork tasks.

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