AOTA

Authors:

Jan Hollenbeck, OTD, OTR/L

Virginia Spielmann, MSOT

Lucy Jane Miller, PhD, OTR

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

Overview:

This chapter reminds us that motor skills support a student’s ability to participate in occupations across school activities and contexts. The occupational therapist, and occupational therapy assistant when applicable, evaluates and intervenes in natural school contexts to observe and address motor skills as they are embedded in occupational performance. Occupational therapy intervention for students with motor skill challenges addresses the impact of these challenges on participation in the educational program, including academic, social, and functional aspects of the educational program and school experience.

Learning Objectives:

1.      Describe common motor difficulties and participation challenges in school that children with various conditions (e.g. developmental coordination disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder) may exhibit.

2.      List 4 participation-level assessment tools that may be used in school-based occupational therapy practice.

3.      List various standardized measures that can be used to assess underlying client factors in students.

4.      Discuss evidence-based approaches and interventions used in occupational therapy to address students’ motor skills for enhanced participation and performance in school.

 Key Terms and Concepts:

·         Activity-level evaluation

·         Least restrictive environment

·         Motor performance skills

·         Motor skills

·         Performance skills