I feel like I have been on nearly a 20 year journey to manage the stress and demands of school-based therapy.  I would like to use this blog post as a means to provide strategies on how I have achieved much greater balance and joy in my job over the years.

 

 

APRIL 14, 2017

REDUCING STRESS STRATEGY #1:

FROM THE INITIAL EVALUATION AND THE INITIAL IEP, EDUCATE YOUR TEAM ON THE ROLE OF OT IN THE SCHOOLS, THE CONTINUUM OF OT SERVICES, AND YOUR REALISTIC APPRAISAL OF STUDENT POTENTIAL PROGRESS BASED ON ALL PERFORMANCE COMPONENTS.  

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The first strategy I can offer is to fully explain the role of occupational therapy in the school setting to the parents and the IEP team from the initial evaluation.  Inform parents and the team of your vision of therapy services for the student, how you see them progressing and how you think OT services could change as the student goes from grade to grade.  Parents and the IEP team need to know that OT services are a continuum.  Maybe the first year you provide aggressive direct intervention so a preschool student learns to hold and manipulate school tools.  Then,  the student may no longer requires direct intervention for motor skills, but still needs OT consultation for sensory issues.   Direct OT may again be determined for the same student in third grade to support the intervention specialist with a written expression goal.  There is less stress for you and the team when they are informed that direct OT is not the only type of service method and that the type and frequency of the OT intervention will change based on the students educational setting.  The OT needs to give the team a REALISTIC vision of potential progress based ALL PERFORMANCE COMPONENTS (physical, cognitive, emotional, etc.).  The OT needs to inform the team of how a student's medical condition impacts their present performance and potential for future performance.  

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