AOTA

Abstract

The school-based occupational therapy evaluation provides information to assist the educational team in determining eligibility for special education and to make decisions regarding supports and services. Special education legislation includes language that requires teams to consider each child’s strengths (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 [IDEA],). A strengths-based approach identifies the strengths and resources available to and within the child and uses these to enhance participation. This focus on strengths aligns with the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process, 3rd Edition (Framework; American Occupational Therapy Association, 2014) and current views of best practice (Handley-More, Wall, Orentlichler, & Hollenbeck, 2013) and has applications for the school-based occupational therapy practitioner. This article describes the use of a strengths-based approach in the school-based occupational therapy evaluation process. Strategies for identifying strengths are described, and existing evaluation methods and tools are reframed to guide the school-based evaluator in this strengths-based process.

Learning Objectives

1. Recognize why it is crucial to consider strengths during the school-based occupational therapy evaluation process.

2. Recognize how strengths-based evaluation aligns with IDEA, the Framework, and best practice.

3. Identify key tenets of a strengths-based approach and the relationship to evaluating occupational performance.

4. List several strategies, methodologies, or tools used to evaluate and identify a child’s strengths.