Landing A School Contract

Are you interested in working in schools but don't know how to get started? I sat down with my recruiter Michelle to discuss how we as OTs and SLPs can get our foot in the door.

With the Covid pandemic, schools were ill prepared to transition to telehealth and online learning, leaving students behind from their expected milestones and in their IEPs.

This year schools are playing catch up with these kids. What does that mean for us?

A huge surge in school openings.

For SLPs the demand is so high that they almost always take you even without experience- new grads included. For OTs we may have to work a little harder, but they will still snatch us up if we can get ourselves up to speed.

Michelle recommends independently taking CEUs to prepare ourselves for working in the schools. Make sure that you take IEP courses.

For SLPs

www.medbridge.com and www.speechlanguagepathology.com provide unlimited courses for $99/year each. They each have many courses applicable to school settings.

For OTs

General Knowledge

1. A Primer for the New School-Based Therapist: Understanding the Role of OT in the Educational Setting 2. Strategies for Effective Collaboration with Teachers & IEP Team 3. Providing Inclusive Services in the School 4. Writing IEP Goals 5. IEP Goal Development and Incorporation of Common Core 6. The 3Cs to Being an A+ School Based Therapist: Communication, Collaboration and Consultation 7. Series: Classroom Strategies for Children with Autism 8. Self-Regulation: Strategies for Student Success 9. Plan Organize Work Evaluate Reward Finish! A Multi-faceted Occupational Therapy Program to POWER! Executive Function Skills 10. Implementing RTI for School-Based OTs and PTs: Supporting Struggling Learners 11. Assistive Technology to Improve Classroom Performance 12. Learning Disorders: A Toolbox of Strategies

Preschools

1. Component Skills for Pre-Writing in Early Childhood 2. Early Co-Regulation in Infants and Young Children 3. Finger and Hand Fun for School Based Therapists 4. Indoor Rainy Day, Snowy Day Fun

Elementary Schools

1. Motor-vation: Evidence based Motor Program to Support Fine & Visual Motor Development 2. Printing in Kindergarten 3. Fabricating Fun, Low Cost & Effective Therapy Activities Out of Recycled Materials 4. Sensory Processing Aspects of Handwriting and Drawing 5. The Evidence is In! Size Matters Handwriting 6. Handwriting, 4th Grade And Beyond 7. Importance of Penmanship - Printing

High Schools

1. Keys For Success: Strategies for Working With Teens and Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorders 2. What Can Google Do For You? 3. Speech Generating Devices: Determining Access 4. Switch Assessment 5. Tablet applications 6. Augmentative and Alternative Communication - The Role of the OT 7. Overview of Computer and Tablet Access

This list of courses is from occupationaltherapy.com

The CEUs are $99/year for unlimited access. The course list was curated by Michelle Lauchlan, OTR/L. By using her referral link we are supporting her for providing this helpful list of courses for us. :)

https://www.occupationaltherapy.com/memberships/invite/1086291