Best Practices for Occupational Therapy in Schools

Nearly 22% of school occupational therapy practitioners work in school settings, creating demand for current, effective, and evidence-based best practices for students. Reflecting the extensiveness of occupational therapy practice in schools, this exciting publication contains best practices from preschool to postsecondary transitions, from ADLs to driving.

Highlights include (1) foundations of school practice, covering topics such as history, the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, ethics, role of OTAs, state guidelines, leadership, professional access and negotiation, and student access; (2) systems-level considerations such as evaluation, intervention, documentation, program evaluation, workloads, fieldwork, collaborating, resolving conflicts, early intervening services and response to intervention, health and wellness, mental health, universal design for learning, transportation, preschooler transition, and postsecondary transition; (3) population-based planning to support participation, covering topics such as 504 plans, autism, emotional disturbance, hearing impairments and deafness, low-incidence disabilities, health impairments, physical disabilities, learning disabilities, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairments; (4) performance-based considerations such as cognition and executive functioning, sensory processing skills, motor and praxis skills, visual perception, fine motor and visual-perceptual skills, and communication and social skills; and (6) activity-based considerations such as literacy, handwriting, assistive technology, ADLs, IADLs, eating and swallowing, play and leisure, and driver's education.

With a deliberate focus on student participation, this book provides practical applications of evidence-based research to daily practice. Destined to become an occupational therapy classic, Best Practices for Occupational Therapy in Schools is the most comprehensive publication available for practice in schools.

Gloria Frolek Clark, PhD, OTR/L, BCP, FAOTA, has worked for more than 35 years in early intervention and school practice. She was cofounder of the AOTA Early Intervention and School Special Interest Section, has been a member of the AOTA Commission on Practice, and has been a member of the AOTA Pediatric Specialty Board. She is currently in private practice and is President of the Iowa Occupational Therapy Association.

Barbara E. Chandler, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, has been an occupational therapist for 37 years, most recently in home health and early intervention. She has served as chair of the AOTA Early Intervention and School Special Interest Section. She currently is teaching at Shenandoah University.