School occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants are key contributors within the education team. They support a student’s ability to participate in desired daily school activities or “occupations.” They help children to fulfill their role as students by supporting their academic achievement and promoting positive behaviors necessary for learning. School occupational therapists support academic and non-academic outcomes, including social skills, math, reading and writing (i.e., literacy), behavior management, recess, participation in sports, self-help skills, prevocational/vocational participation, transportation, and more. Because of their expertise in activity and environmental analysis, practitioners are particularly skilled in facilitating student access to curricular and extracurricular activities. They focus on the students’ strengths, and can design and implement programming to improve inclusion and accessibility, such as Universal Design for Learning. Additionally, they play a critical role in educating parents, educators, administrators and other staff members. They offer services along a continuum of prevention, promotion, and interventions and serve individual students, groups of students, whole classrooms, and whole school initiatives. They collaborate within the education team to support student success. In this way, occupational therapy practitioners can contribute within both general and special education.
Regardless of setting, occupational therapy services help individuals participate in daily life skills and routines. School-based and hospital/clinic-based occupational therapy services differ in focus: School-based occupational therapists observe, assess, and address the child’s strengths and needs within the natural school settings (e.g., classroom, lunchroom, playground) in order to support the student’s educational program. Services may be directed to the child and on behalf of the child in the school environment (e.g., training educational staff). Hospital and clinic-based occupational therapists typically assess and address the child’s strengths and needs in a clinic setting in order to support participation in life activities. The focus in non-school settings may be more varied and may or may not address specific educational needs.