School-based OT Presentation for Professors
School-based Occupational Therapy — What You Really Need to Know
Below you may play/view a FREE pre-recorded presentation (check your email for the test, answer key, etc.) for educating your students about school-based OT!
I AM a school-based Occupational Therapist, with 23 years of experience, and I know the advantages and challenges of working in the school system. The pros are wonderful, but the cons—well, they MUST CHANGE!
Use it anytime during the year—year after year! There are no gimmicks, no surprises, and no cost…ever!
Thank you for allowing me to join you in preparing 20-25% of your students who will likely be in school-based practice for things that blindsided me!
Presented by Jaime Spencer, MS, OTR/L
Let’s prepare the future generation of school-based OTPs
What’s included:
- 40-minute video presentation
- Copy of the slides
- Handout
- Assessment/quiz on the topic with answer key for easy scoring
Objectives
- Summarize how the structure of the SED/LEA system impacts parity for school-based Occupational Therapy Practitioners (OTP)
- Restate three questions to ask at your first job interview
- List 3 opportunities to showcase leadership as a school OT practitioner
What’s going on?
Recent research on leadership perceptions in New York, conducted by Dr. Serena Zeidler, Kim Wiggins, and myself, revealed a significant gap in awareness regarding the eligibility of occupational therapy practitioners for educational administrative coursework.
Among over 700 respondents, 41.8% were fully aware, while 21.1% were somewhat aware, and 37% were not aware at all that OTPs in NYS cannot pursue the necessary coursework for administrative roles (Spencer, et al, 2023).
Jaime wants to close this gap to educate the next generation of school-based occupational therapy practitioners about current barriers limiting opportunities for advancement and the ability to work the full extent of practice as mandated by ESSA.
This free presentation will help professors of school-based occupational therapy to easily close this gap by making their students aware of the barriers and preparing them to effectively advocate for themselves and their profession. Afterall, you can’t stick up for yourself if you don’t know what’s going on.
Jaime Spencer is a pediatric Occupational Therapist with 25 years’ experience in Long Island, New York. She currently works in a public school with students—Kindergarten to 5th grade. She also has ten years’ experience working in a sensory gym with preschool-age children.
She is a fierce advocate for school-based occupational therapy practitioners in the State of New York and across the USA. She runs a grassroots coalition and donates a portion of her proceeds to advocacy for her profession.
She has a Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Utica College of Syracuse University and a Master’s Degree in Special Education from Adelphi University. She was recently certified in Assistive Technology from California State University Northridge. Jaime is an adjunct research mentor for Touro College School of Health Sciences and is currently working on research regarding the perceptions of school administrators about occupational therapy practitioners as leaders in New York.
Jaime Spencer is the author of the Occupational Therapy blog www.MissJaimeOT.com