Special Ed: Exceptional Children Occupational Therapist

FUNCTIONAL PURPOSE
The Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluates students in the area of fine motor and sensory processing. The OT reports the findings and assists the IEP team in considering the impact of any deficit on the child's educational performance. For students found eligible for OT services, the OT works collaboratively with the team to determine goals, supports, and services as appropriate.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Collaborates with other disciplines to ensure team understanding of student occupational performance strengths and needs.
• Evaluates the student's ability and formulates the student's occupational profile through a variety of functional, behavioral, and standard assessments, skilled observation, checklists, histories, and interviews.
• Works with students, parents, educational personnel, and community agencies to increase understanding of the student's occupational performance and provides recommendations to achieve goals.
• Synthesizes evaluation results into a comprehensive written report which reflects strengths and barriers to student participation in the educational environment and develops occupationally based intervention plans based on results.
• Participates in IEP meetings to review evaluation results and/or data collected from OT interventions, integrates findings with other disciplines, offers recommendations and develops IEP goals and intervention plans to achieve IEP goals.
• Provides targeted, evidence-based therapeutic interventions to facilitate student participation and occupational performance within the school environment.
• Consults with school-based team to monitor ongoing student skill development.
• Adapts and modifies the environment and/or task and educates student, educational personnel, and family to facilitate skills in targeted areas including occupation and safety.
• Monitors and reassesses the effects of occupational therapy interventions, and helps determine the need to continue, modify, or discontinue intervention.
• Documents occupational therapy services to ensure accountability of service provision and to meet standards for reimbursement of services as appropriate.
• Prioritizes and schedules work tasks independently.
• Adheres to federal and state legislation, and local policies that affect occupational therapy practice.
• Maintains clinical and administrative records in accordance with professional standards, state guidelines, and school system policy.
• Identifies opportunities for the development and implementation of new solutions to meet or exceed customer needs.
• Performs related duties as assigned.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
• Knowledge of federal, state, local legislation, regulations, policies,
• Knowledge of procedures that guide occupational therapy practice in schools.
• Knowledge of human development throughout the life span, integrated with student's unique developmental status.
• Knowledge and appreciation of the influence of disabilities, socio-cultural and socioeconomic factors have on a student's ability to participate in occupations.
• Knowledge and use of occupational therapy theories, models of practice, principles, and evidence-based practice to guide intervention decisions.
• Models high levels of ethics and integrity in all interactions.
• Ability to maintain current reporting, documentation, scheduling, and billing in accordance with professional standards, state and local guidelines, and reimbursement requirements.
• Ability to determine suitability for OT evaluation and selection of appropriate assessment tools to evaluate the student.
• Ability to interpret the evaluation data in a comprehensive written report that reflects strengths and barriers to student's participation and occupational performance.
• Ability to develop occupationally based intervention plans based on evaluation information.
• Ability to provision of evidence-based OT interventions.
• Ability to adapt and modification of environments and materials to improve student performance and participation.
• Ability to use professional literature, evidence-based research, peer mentorship, and continuing education content to make practice decisions.
• Ability to collaborate with multi-disciplinary educational teams to develop individualized education programs to meet student needs.
• Ability to work confidentially and with discretion.
• Ability to work collaboratively with a team, and independently.
• Ability to use sound clinical reasoning and professional judgment.
• Good customer service/employee relations.
• Ability to meet schedules and timelines.
• Possession of professional verbal and written skills.
• Proficiency in the use of the following computer-based programs: word processing, spreadsheet/data entry, slide show/presentation programs, cloud/shared document storage, online meeting platforms, as well as specific software associated with IEPs, service logs, and other applicable programs.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:
• Minimum: Successful completion and graduation from an accredited occupational therapy professional program recognize by National Board for Certification of Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) and have completed all fieldwork requirements.
• Minimum: Two years of experience as an occupational therapist
• Desirable: Two years of experience as an occupational therapist, in a school setting or other pediatric practice setting is preferred.

CERTIFICATION AND LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS:

• Initial certification by NBCOT
• Current license by NC Board of Occupational Therapy
• Current driver's license for travel between schools

Pay Grade: Full-Time - 11 Months - Minimum Monthly Salary: $4,918

When applying, please make sure to include all prior experience in your application.

Please provide at least two references. One must be the current or most recent supervisor and the other a previous supervisor.