r/OccupationalTherapy

I had a student shadow me for day to get hours for OT school, and he asked me to write a LOR to get into OT school. He also asked the person who he shadowed with for 3 days. We are both newish grads and a bit uncomfortable with how to proceed.

This student was giving mixed signals and seemed to have some difficulty with professionalism/social norms. For example when bringing in a peds client who's perfectly aware/cognizant if they have autism, asking me how much I get paid in the middle of a session, asking "verbal or nonverbal?" in reference to a kid I just brought in, referring to kids he's worked with before as "a level II" as a full title.

He said he got OT and ST as a kid so I suspect it's more of not understanding social skills and being young than trying to be rude on purpose, and he did work well with the kids and definitely had the heart for it. If I don't do it, they won't have enough letters to apply this cycle.

It's really hard to get recommendations around her due to availability of places to shadow at so I'm really torn. I was thinking a middle could be offering to write him one after he shadows for some more days.

ETA: idk if it makes a difference but he didn’t even officially ask me. He just added my info to the online application portal and it sent me a link to fill out the letter. Only after did he email wanting to give me a “heads up” to look out for the link and if I could just fill it out when I get a minute. He also didn’t waive he is right to view the letter.

Hi!! I recently graduated and passed my board exam. My level 2 FWs were in SNF and school-based. I would love to apply for an inpatient rehab position but don’t feel prepared at all for the setting. What are the top areas you think I should study up on before applying and do you think I would benefit from working at a SNF initially and then (once I’m a little less green) applying to an acute rehab setting? I feel like you learn so many practical skills, it’s currently my dream setting.

Quick disclosure so nobody feels ambushed: I'm Dr. Stanley Greenspan's son. I run a pediatric development clinic in the DC/Bethesda area (OTs, SLPs, mental-health, Edu, etc.) that uses his approach. I'm here to learn, not pitch anything.

When my dad was alive he worked closely with a lot of OTs — his view was that sensory experiences, engagement, and meaningful interaction had to be woven together, and that self- regulation came from co-regulation It wasn't separate from the relationship, it enabled it. But when I talk to OTs today, I hear really different stories about how Floortime shows up (or doesn't) in their understanding and modern practice: 

• Some got zero Floortime exposure in school and picked it up on the job

• Some got DIR/Floortime through a non-Greenspan certification, like ICDL, and apply it subjectively

• Some see it as "just play and following the child's lead" and don't understand how the child must be an active participant, similar to how Ayres Sensory Integration is different from what being taught as sensory integration by current practitioners

• Some blend everything and don't really call it anything 

If you're a peds OT working with kids with autism or developmental differences — I'd genuinely love to hear: 

1. What (if any) Floortime training did you actually receive — school, CEUs, on-the-job, ICDL cert?

2. Do you use it in sessions now? As a primary frame, or blended with sensory/regulation frameworks?

3. What do you wish was different about how it's taught to OTs?

Not trying to argue for any particular version. Just want to understand what's happening in peds practice today so I can be more useful to the OT world my dad cared a lot about.

hey! i am an incoming mscot student at uoft. wondering if there are any groupchats i can join to connect with others in the program. thanks!!

I live in Idaho, offered a position at a peds place I’ve always wanted to work at but it’s a contracted position. I’m aware this means no means no benefits, but honestly I haven’t had benefits since I started as a COTA 4 years ago in the two settings I’ve been in. Just sounds like a luxury at this point. I have no idea how taxes work, what would this average out to be hourly? anything else for me to be aware of?

I’ve been an OTR for about 4 years now. I started in a sensory integration based outpatient peds clinic and ended up leaving because I felt micromanaged and got paid way too little. Currently I’m working in pediatric home health. There’s so much I love about this setting, mainly the flexibility and freedom. No one’s really checking on me and all my kids have made huge improvements since I’ve started seeing them. But there’s the downsides too: constant driving, parents using me as a babysitter, no coworkers to bounce ideas off of.

My issue is that I’m bored. I feel under stimulated and unfulfilled in my career right now. I already was “promoted” to an OT supervisor but there’s no other growth opportunities. I’m not sure if it’s time for a change in settings or if there’s something else I should be doing. I should add that i am currently working part time because I have two toddlers. I love being an OT and I know I’m a really good one. I just don’t feel like I’m working at my full potential.

I’m an OT, just wondering if anyone knows what it pays to be an epic analyst for a hospital system? I know it varies some but wondering if anyone out there that does this job could give me a range. Online post don’t list it. It’s a remote position. I know other therapist that are doing this job and seem to like it.

Hello I'm 26F and I have a BS in psychology and have finished all my prereqs and currently volunteer at a pediatric OT clinic. I was just exploring the profession bc it is something that really interests me and i genuinely love what I get to do at my volunteer and work very closely with the OTs and I really love the profession. I have been thinking about applying to OT school but I am worried I'm making the wrong decision.

I currently have a very stable, well paying but super boring and kinda stressful government job with much room for growth. I earn 77k currently as an entry level position with steady increases and potential to get promoted to six figures, which is a goal of mine. And I feel like it would be a bad idea financially to switch to OT and take on debt and go back to school for 2 years. I already have 20k debt from undergrad. I currently live with my parents and have good savings, but I plan to move to out of state soon with my boyfriend. My government job is also available out of state and I am just waiting for a transfer.

I feel like I'm choosing between financial stability and a career that I actually enjoy. Just looking for advice really bc I am having a hard time deciding.

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Hi everyone! I’m a new graduate Occupational Therapist currently working in mental health, and I’m finding it really difficult to retain all the information I’m learning.

During consumer discussions, I sometimes feel like I’m taking in so much information that I struggle to remember what was important afterwards. I also find that when my supervisor asks me questions about a consumer or asks me to explain my clinical reasoning, my mind can sometimes go blank even though I feel like I understood it during the session.

I’m trying to get better at taking notes, but I don’t want to write down absolutely everything. I’m wondering:
What information do you consider most important to write down after seeing a consumer?
Do you have a particular note-taking structure or template that you use?
How do you remember important clinical information from previous sessions?
Did anyone else experience poor information retention as a new graduate?
What helped you become more confident with clinical reasoning and recalling information?

I’d really appreciate hearing from other new grads or experienced OTs about what worked for you. 😭

Hi all, I have a 3 year old who I recently got assessed for OT. My main concern was emotion regulation and some maladaptive sensory seeking behavior (mouthing no food items), seeking OT because I noticed some small issues that OT could probably support to globally get at better emotion regulation/tolerance of change

-difficulties with body awareness (goes to the bathroom too frequently for being potty trained for over a year)
-boundary issues with bodies (will poke/prod dad’s ears, my breasts, even after being told to stop several times)
-a lot of sensory seeking behavior (crashing, spinning)
-noticed some mild core weakness (still struggling to work a balance bike despite having one for a year -does not like trying it)

Anyway, I had our OT goal setting meeting today, and the OT was saying that she could have lots of advanced goals like improving pencil grip (it is normal for her age per her assessment), improving scissor hold (again, normal for her age), along with other goals to work on her core strength, body awareness, internal awareness. The OT also said that she typically recommends services for at least a year.

Am I way off in my bs sensor going off? My daughter is on track with all developmental milestones, is socially adept -has friends at school and neighborhood, and is academically advanced (already sounding out simple words). My main concern was just trying to give her a little help with some of these sensory issues so she can cope a little better, as she can get really dysregulated after school. If they want to work on holding scissors a bit that’s fine but I certainly would not have sought a referral for something like that and I don’t really understand why they would make goals for things that she is performing at a normal rate for her age.

Hi everyone! I’m planning to take the CASPer for my Canadian OT applications and am aiming to book it for the last week of September.

I’m completely new to CASPer and wondering where I should start. If you’ve taken it recently, what resources did you use and what actually helped?

Also, are any paid subscriptions/memberships worth it, or are the free resources enough? I’d really appreciate recommendations for practice questions, mock tests, YouTube channels, etc.

Thanks! 🙏

Let’s say you apply to 2 OTD programs where one is rolling admissions (X) and the other is not(Y). If you get accepted to X before Y’s decision timeline and commit to X but later find out Y(who is your top pick and about half the price), can you back out of your commitment to X?

There could be months of difference on the timing and I really really would prefer Y if I get in but don’t want to lose my shot at X.

I found out my school never sent my ed verification over to complete my application for my licensure and I’ve been sitting around for 6 weeks waiting. I start orientation for my job Monday and I need my license by tomorrow. Hoping someone can help!

Hi all,

I live in the UK and applied to study OT MSc (Pre-reg) and I've been rejected because I don't meet the academic standards.

My initial reaction was sadness; however, I don't want to give up. I do have a Software Engineering degree but that was almost 20 years ago 😅

I have emailed admissions for feedback but has anyone had a similar experience, and what would you suggest my best way forward to be?

Thank you in advance for any advice 🙂

I was working for a large hospital chain in Inpatient, I’d been there for a little over three years.
During that three years, management changed from an awesome manager to a coworker who only cared about her friends. I was not her friend. I was younger, cared more about my husband and two babies than gossiping with coworkers. Most of my coworkers didn’t have families and just had different priorities than me. I just wanted to do my job and go home every day. Worked great before, not so much when she became manager.

Anyway, pretty soon I became the scapegoat for everything. Low productivity day? They only checked me. Lost paperwork? She only went through my desk. I went to HR on three separate occasions for her talking shit about me and my family to coworkers. Nothing came of it. While 8 months pregnant with my second child I fell in the parking lot while walking into work and was taken up to be monitored. I texted her immediately, she wrote me up for a no call no show.

Finally came storm team. Huge snow storm, locked into the hospital for 3 nights. It was my first time away from my children overnight. I worked my schedule, then I slept on my air mattress. Just like every other therapist that was stuck there. Turns out, we were supposed to work longer shifts and had a higher productivity expectation. Manager didn’t tell us that. A week later, she was getting flack for it. I get called into a meeting, turns out in my stress during a 60 hour shift I accidentally put the same times for two patients. It was an honest mistake, one I’ve never made before, but I was terminated for “falsifying units”. For some reason, it was only me she decided to check the security camera feed of. It was my first time in any trouble in my 3 years working there. She embarrassed me in front of everyone when she fired me unfairly. A year later, I still hear from people at that hospital that I was intentionally stealing units. I wasn’t.

She’s trying to ruin my reputation to save hers. I have a new job now. But I just can’t get over it. I still think about what happened often and it makes me so angry and upset I sit up awake at night. Like I am right now.

Looking for advice? Validation? Similar experiences?

TLDR;; got fired from my inpatient OT job because the manager didn’t like me. Used me as a scapegoat when she got in trouble and it cost me my job and reputation in our small town. A year later, I still can’t move on from what happened.

Hi guys. I have a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and am now looking at doing a Master of OT. I was wondering how everyone meets the anatomy and physiology prerequisites? I know some unis offer bridging courses (La Trobe University for example), but are these courses accepted by other unis as well? I'm looking to apply to UQ and Bond, and maybe some other unis in the Brisbane/Gold Coast area. Any advice is appreciated!!

Hello, I work in residential houses for adults with CP and other complex disabilities, and I’m putting together a leisure activity resource for staff and looking for ideas.

The residents have a very wide range of abilities. Some can participate independently in simple crafts, puzzles, or games while others have significant physical limitations, limited communication, and/or little to no functional fine motor use.

I’m especially looking for meaningful recreational activities that don't rely on fine motor skills. Sensory experiences, music, movement, cause-and-effect, adapted games, outdoor activities, etc. Ideas that can be adapted across different ability levels and that feel age-appropriate for adults.