Occupational Therapist - Special Education - Related Services

Reports to: Assistant Director Special Education Related Services

Pay Grade: 206

Duty Days: 202

PCN:17105 & 11542

Salary Range: $75,029 - $90,397

FLSA Status: Exempt

Position Purpose

Plans and offers direct therapy and consultative services to students with physical and/or developmental disabilities. Provides therapeutic intervention to eliminate or reduce problems/impairments that interfere with student's ability to derive full benefit from the educational program. Maintains program records, assessments, and equipment. Trains, educates, and supports school personnel, parents, and community agencies in student's identified occupational needs.

Essential Job Functions

Identification, Evaluation & Planning

• Collaborates with other disciplines to ensure team understanding of student occupational performance, strengths and needs, through evaluation, educational program planning, and service delivery.
• Evaluates the student's ability and formulates the student's occupational profile through a variety of functional, behavioral, and standardized assessments, skilled observation, checklists, histories, and interviews.
• Synthesizes and develops evaluation results into a comprehensive written report which reflects strengths and barriers to student participation in the educational environment, directs program development, and guides evidence-based intervention.
  
  

Service Delivery

• Provides targeted, evidence-based therapeutic intervention to facilitate student participation and occupational performance within the school environment.
• Consults with the school-based team to achieve student outcomes.
• Participates in the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee to assist with interpretations of assessment data, appropriate placement, and goal setting for students with disabilities according to district procedures.
• Participates in interdisciplinary team assessments including Child Find, Arena Assessments, Autism Assessments and Assistive Technology Assessments.
• Adapts and modifies the environment including assistive technology and training instructional staff to meet individual needs and to help students function as independently as possible.
• Educates students, school personnel, and families to facilitate skills in areas of occupation as well as health maintenance and safety.
• Monitors and reassess the effects of occupational therapy intervention and 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.
  
  

Program Administration & Management

• Prioritizes and schedules work tasks independently.
• Manages inventory of therapeutic equipment and assessments, and projects needs for budget planning.
• Maintains clinical and administrative records in accordance with professional standards, state guidelines, and school system policy.
• Adheres to federal and state legislation, regulation, and policies that affect occupational therapy practice.
• Accesses Special Education Electronic Management System for goals and objectives, and documenting services delivered.
  
  

Professional Learning Community

• Teaches, monitors, and collaborates with educational personnel, community agencies, parents, and students to increase understanding of the student's occupational performance.
• Provides continuing education and in-services for educational personnel, parents, and community-based service providers.
• Participates in continuing education for professional development to ensure practice consistent with best practice and to meet licensure requirements.
  
  

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervises and evaluates students in Occupational Therapy and Occupational Therapy Assistant programs during fieldwork placement.
  
  

Personal Work Relationships

• All Fort Worth ISD employees must maintain a commitment to the District's mission, vision, and strategic goals.
• Exhibits high professionalism, standards of conduct and work ethic.
• Demonstrates high quality customer service; builds rapport/relationship with the consumer.
• Demonstrates cultural competence in interactions with others; is respectful of co-workers; communicates and acts as a team player; promotes teamwork; responds and acts appropriately in confrontational situations.
  
  

Other Duties As Assigned

• Performs all job-related duties as assigned and in accordance with Board rules, policies and regulations. All employees are expected to comply with lawful directives in rare situations driven by need where a team effort is required.
  
  

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Knowledge of human development throughout the life-span and integrates with student's unique developmental status.
• Knowledge and appreciation of the influence of disabilities, socio-cultural and socioeconomic factors on 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.
• Knowledge of the federal, state, local legislation, regulations, policies and procedures that mandate and guide occupational therapy practice in schools.
• Skill in talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Ability to gather and assess outcomes, program, and evaluation data and to use to modify services at the programmatic level.
• Ability to determine the need for an occupational therapy evaluation and to select and administer appropriate assessment tools to evaluate the student.
• Ability to interpret the evaluation data and write a comprehensive report that reflects strengths and barriers to student's participation and occupational performance.
• Ability to participate collaboratively with multi-disciplinary educational teams to develop Individualized Education Plans (IEP) to meet student needs.
• Ability to provide evidence based occupational therapy intervention to improve student's performance skills and participation.
• Ability to plan, coordinate, and conduct continuing education for educational personnel, parents, and students.
• Ability to use computer network system and software applications as needed.
• Ability to communicate effectively with staff, students, and parents.
• Ability to engage in self-evaluation with regard to performance and professional growth.
• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with others contacted in the course of work.
  
  

Travel Requirements

• Travels to school district buildings and professional meetings as required.
  
  

Physical & Mental Demands, Work Hazards

• Tools/Equipment Used: Occupational therapy equipment; special need adaptive equipment; standard office equipment including computer and peripherals.
• Posture: Prolonged sitting and standing; occasional stooping, squatting, kneeling, bending, pushing/pulling, crouching, crawling, and twisting; climbing stairs.
• Motion: Use hands for fine manipulation, handle or feel and reach with hands and arms using a keyboard and video display terminal; grasping/squeezing, wrist flexion/extension; frequent walking.
• Lifting: Regular heavy lifting (45 pounds or more) and positioning of students with physical disabilities; controlling behavior through physical restraint; assisting non-ambulatory students.
• Exerting: Occasional 20-50 pounds of force, and/or frequent 10-25 pounds of force, and/or greater than negligible up to 10 pounds of force constantly to move objects.
• Vision: Performs tasks requiring close vision.
• Environment: Works in an office setting; frequent talking and listening; noise levels in the office are usually low to moderate; exposure to biological hazards, bacteria, and communicable diseases; may require occasional irregular and/or prolonged hours.
• Attendance: Regular and punctual attendance at the worksite is required for this position.
• Mental Demands: Maintains emotional control under stress; works with frequent interruptions.
  
  

Minimum Required Qualifications

• Education:
• Bachelor's degree from accredited college or university in Occupational Therapy required;
• Master's degree from accredited college or university in Occupational Therapy preferred.
• Certification/License: Valid Occupational Therapist license to practice in Texas.
• Experience:
• 1 year pediatric required;
• 3 years' pediatric preferred.
  

This document is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job and is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties that may be assigned or skills that may be required.