AOTA

Authors:

Judith Schoonover, MEd, OTR/L, ATP, FAOTA

Matthew Press, MHS, OTR/L, ATP

Earn: .1 AOTA CEU (1.25 NBCOT PDU; 1 contact hour)

Overview:

This chapter describes how occupational therapy practitioners working in schools can influence how educators teach and how students learn. The right AT devices and services can remove barriers in the physical and academic environment and provide students with options to increase participation. Occupational therapy practitioners are ideally suited to serve on inter-professional collaborative teams to evaluate students who are experiencing difficulty accessing the learning environment and determine an appropriate match of AT tools. To this end, it is essential that occupational therapy practitioners in schools become familiar with the continuum of AT options available. Occupational therapy practitioners have a responsibility to educate themselves and others about the possibilities offered by new technologies. Ongoing assessment of the effectiveness of AT interventions is necessary to ensure that students are equipped with the tools they need as they transition to college, career, or community.

Learning Objectives:

1.  List characteristics of universal design for learning.

2) Define “assistive technology device”.

3) Differentiate between no-tech, low-tech, mid-tech and high-tech assistive technology devices and services.

4) Discuss occupational therapy’s role regarding assistive technology use in schools.

5) Identify interventions along the assistive technology continuum that can remove barriers and enhance participation in various school activities for students with disabilities.  

Key Terms and Concepts:

·         Assistive

·         Assistive technology

·         AT device

·         AT service

·         Inter-professionalism

·         Literacy

·         Operational competence

·         Strategic competence

·         Universal design

·         Universal design for learning