Having been observing and completing my professional rotation within a school district for the past five weeks, I have come to understand the occupational therapy screening process and how it varies for each child. The school based setting truly has an inter-professional approach, as all members of the team including teachers, para-professionals, administrators, therapists, and parents all work together to identify and address the needs of each child. Often times, the occupational therapist is not the first person to notice that a child is struggling to keep up in the classroom. Within this particular school district, another member of the team who is with the child daily generally informs the OT about the child's areas of concern. The OT then pushes into the classroom to perform an informal screening of the child and takes notes.
During the screening process, the OT attempts to observe the child within his/her natural environment without overtly interfering or prompting. In the school based setting, the OT can only address deficits which affect the child's ability to participate in educationally relevant activities. A few examples may include: bilateral hand coordination, attention, sensory-processing and regulation, self-help skills (washing hands, using restroom, clothing fasteners, tying shoes), and fine motor control (scissor skills, pasting, handwriting, opening containers). If the OT determines that the child would benefit from a full OT evaluation, then he/she reports back to the team. The parents are then notified and a doctor's prescription for an OT evaluation is requested. Occupational therapists must have a current physician's prescription on file in order to evaluate or treat a child within the school setting.
Look for a future post with more details on what an OT evaluation within the school district entails.
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