AOTA

Instructors:

Phoebe Jerousek, OTD, OTR/L

Occupational Therapist

Karen Majeski, OTD, ORT/L

Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy

Quinnipiac University

Credit:  .1 AOTA CEU (1 contact hour/1.25 NBCOT PDUs)

Description:

Students with disabilities, particularly Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD), and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience decreased rates of community mobility when compared with general populations This trend can have profound impacts on these adolescents with disabilities and their abilities to engage in work, leisure, and social participation activities.

This is also a critical time period in a teen’s life when they develop their identity and sense of belonging within their peer group. A teenager’s desire to self-advocate for their ability to obtain a driver’s license is often coupled with the caregiver’s real and perceived fear of the teenager's ability to do so. School-based occupational therapy practitioners play a vital role in identifying teens and young adults who are candidates for drivers education programs. They are able to identify those who are at risk for pursuing driving and can prepare a teenager or young adult to make an informed decision through targeted and tailored interventions. 

This course covers the role of occupational therapy in addressing driving and community with students who have disabilities, evidence based interventions to support this population within the school system and the role of advocacy to ensure that OT is part of the school based community mobility conversation.

Learning Objectives

Following this course, the learner will be able to:

·         Articulate how driving and community mobility is described within the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, 4th ed. (OTPF-4)

·         Describe evidence based interventions to support community mobility 

·         Describe the elements of instruction that are effective in teaching students with disabilities about community mobility and driver’s education, including collaboration with outside agencies and other related service providers. 

·         Discuss how community mobility can look across the lifespan.

·         Describe how to advocate for the distinct role of OT as part of the driving and community mobility conversation

Audience:  Occupational therapist and occupational therapy assistants

Level of difficulty:  Intermediate