CBE Occupational Therapy website
A Resource for CBE Educators & Families
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Welcome CBE teachers, support staff and families! This site was created by CBE Inclusive Education Occupational Therapists to provide information and resources to support students at school. This site provides information, strategies, videos and printable materials teachers can use in the classroom and families can try at home. We hope you find this site helpful to access information and try new strategies.
Search by topic or use the search feature at the top right of the page.
School-Based Occupational Therapy
School-Based Occupational Therapy
School Occupational Therapists (OT) are key contributors within the education team. We support a student’s ability to participate in desired daily school activities or occupations. We help children to fulfill their role as students by supporting their academic achievement and promoting positive behaviors necessary for learning. School OTs support academic and non-academic outcomes, including social skills, math, reading and writing (i.e. literacy), behavior management, recess, self-help skills, prevocational/vocational participation, transportation and more.
Because of our expertise in activity and environmental analysis, OTs are particularly skilled in facilitating student access to curricular and extracurricular activities. We focus on the students’ strengths, and we can design and implement programming to improve inclusion and accessibility, such as Universal Design for Learning.
Additionally, we play a critical role in educating parents, educators, administrators and other members of the educational team. We offer services along a continuum of prevention, promotion, and interventions and serve individual students, groups of students, whole classrooms, and whole school initiatives. We collaborate within the education team to support student success through Response to Intervention (RTI).
Safety & Accessibility
Safety & Accessibility
OTs and PTs (physiotherapists) ensure all school environments are accessible (i.e. classroom, playground, washroom) and, when needed, educate staff to increase a child's ability to participate safely.
OTs can provide suggestions to assist children to develop fine motor skills (i.e. printing, cutting) appropriate for their grade level.
Writing
Writing
Students spend a large part of the school day writing. OTs provide strategies for reluctant writers to optimize written output: provide adapted paper, alternate pencils, assistive technology, task adaptations, graphic organizers, etc.
OTs can help make learning accessible and allow students to show what they know when written output is challenging.
Self-Care
Self-Care
OTs provide strategies to increase student safety, independence and participation in self-care tasks such as feeding, dressing and using the washroom.
Seating
Seating
OTs can suggest flexible seating options to increase engagement or supportive seating options for classroom activities (i.e. a floor seat to allow a student who cannot sit independently to join their peers on the carpet at circle time).
OTs can provide strategies and help set up the environment to support students who struggle with executive functioning: organization of desk and materials, initiating and completing tasks independently, using visuals and checklists, etc.
OTs can suggest strategies and equipment that school staff can use to increase engagement, participation and focus. OTs provide strategies to help students learn to regulate their level of energy and emotions to promote mental health and well-being at school.
The Occupational Therapist can help school teams support students who are having significant challenges participating in and/or accessing education. This could look like:
A student who is experiencing difficulties in the learning environment due to a physical disability.
A student who struggles with written skills and may need accommodations beyond what is available in the school.
A student who has significant difficulties with initiating and completing tasks.
A student who has difficulties transitioning from one activity to another and managing classroom routines.
A student who has difficulties operating school tools, like scissors and pencils, even after universal accommodations.
A student who has significant difficulties managing energy levels and emotions.
A student who struggles managing skills such as dressing and toileting.
The Occupational Therapist can address the above by building school learning team capacity through:
Conducting activity and environmental analysis and making recommendations to improve the fit for greater access, progress, and participation
Reducing barriers that limit student participation within the school environment
Modifying and adapting tasks
Recommending equipment and assistive technology to support student success
Consulting on setting up flexible learning environments
Providing professional development
Modeling and coaching strategies in the learning environment
Ensuring safe and accessible environments
Collaborative problem solving
Providing resources (books, handouts, follow-up activities)
Completing assessments using informal and formal measures to further understand students learning profile and needs
Please contact your school Occupational Therapist if you have any questions or concerns.
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